Frozen Hearts and Flames of Love
by AstoriaAliceMalfoy
Summary: Two years ago Astoria Greengrass was practically invisible to everyone. Now she has a boyfriend, friends and of course, Draco Malfoy who she shares a complicated relationship with. Astoria thought that things would be easy once the war was over but she has never been quite so wrong. Sequel to "For Every Frozen Heart" (includes a recap for those who have not read the previous part)
1. Return to Hogwarts

**AN: **So welcome to the sequel to "For Every Frozen Heart". Here's a small recap of what's happened before: Astoria is now a seventh year Slytherin who in her sixth year found out that Draco Malfoy had the Dark Mark. She kept the secret and Draco has shared a complicated relationship with the younger Greengrass ever since. At the midst of the war, however, Astoria met John Avery and accepted his offer of a date because Draco had failed to make his move. But then on her Christmas holiday while Astoria was at Theodore Nott's house with her friends she met Draco and they kissed. Now the holiday's over and it's time to return to Hogwarts.

Disclaimer: I (still) don't own Harry Potter

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The Hogwarts Express was the home of many important memories to many of Hogwarts' students. One of those students was, of course, Astoria Greengrass. A girl who had many, many memories that involved the train in question. It was the place where she had first met one of her best friends, Emma Travers. It was the place where she had (many times) bonded with the infamous Death Eater Draco Malfoy. However, currently it was the last place where Astoria wanted to be.

Astoria stood in front of the train, next to her sister. Daphne had for some reason insisted on escorting Astoria to the station since their father was (once again) busy at work.

"Are you ready?" Daphne asked. Astoria raised an eyebrow at her. She and her sister had never been that close. But ever since the end of the war, Daphne had been acting as if they were very close. As if they had always been best friends with each other. As if Daphne hadn't done everything in her power to ignore Astoria when they had been young.

"Yes," replied Astoria. She took one last look around the station. She had agreed to meet her friends in the train but right now she didn't feel like talking to anyone. The Christmas holiday had not gone the way Astoria had planned. She had not planned to go to Theodore Nott's (who was a great friend of hers) house and meeting Draco Malfoy there. And she certainly hadn't planned on kissing Draco Malfoy and therefore cheating on her boyfriend.

John. The thought of John made Astoria feel a little sick to her stomach. She and her boyfriend John Avery had been together for quite some time (over six months in fact). Astoria wasn't sure how she felt about John. She wasn't madly in love with him like people thought but she did feel something for him. It was that something that had stopped her from leaving him. Unlike Malfoy, John was safe. She could quite easily predict his moves and he was (again, unlike Malfoy) kind and caring. John was a man every sane woman would want to be with. Astoria just wasn't sure if she was completely sane.

After she had gone to the Nott manor on Christmas Eve and kissed Draco, she had returned home in a good mood. Or actually she had returned to the small cottage that her sister had insisted they spent Christmas in. It had once belonged to their grandmother Dione, who had been the black sheep of their family. Dione's marriage to Astoria's mother's father had been a huge source of proud to the family, at least until someone found out that Dione was in fact a half-blood. Dione had died shortly after Daphne's birth and thefore Astoria had never met her.

But Dione's house still stood and Daphne and Astoria had renovated it during the summer after the war. Daphne enjoyed spending her time there which was why she had wanted to spend Christmas there with her sister. Daphne had also secretly hoped that it would give time for her and Astoria to bond.

But when Astoria had arrived to the house late on Christmas Eve, she had gone straight to her room. She had had so much to think about. What were her feelings towards Draco? And what about John? In the end Astoria had decided that she would just have to continue her life. She would not tell John about the kiss, and that would give her time to figure out what she felt for him.

But now, John was nowhere in sight. Astoria closed her eyes for a brief moment before hugging her sister and climbing in to the train. She headed right, trying to find an empty compartment or the compartment her friends were in. But of course she had no such luck.

"Hello Astoria," said a dreamy voice from behind her. Astoria turned around to face Luna Lovegood. She had always thought Luna was strange but one of Astoria's flaws (according to other Slytherins) was that she was too kind to members of other houses, including Gryffindors.

"Hello Luna," Astoria greeted, "How are you?"

"Oh I'm marvelous. Would you like a quibbler?" Astoria nodded and Luna handed her the paper. Astoria immediately laughed as she saw the title on the front page: _The Quibbler reveals: the secrets of Lucius Malfoy._

"Wow. The Malfoys must be furious," Astoria said. Luna nodded.

"I know. They told father to stop printing these but he didn't. I don't really like the Malfoys." Astoria looked up at Luna with guilt all over her face. She had forgotten what Luna had gone through during the war. She had forgotten that Luna had been imprisoned in the basement of Malfoy manor. But not many people knew about that. Astoria knew because Theodore had told her.

"I'm so sorry Luna," Astoria whispered. Luna's eyes were dreamy but they held a look of understanding.

"It's not your fault," she said. Astoria felt like her heart was being crushed in to tiny bits but Luna's voice was completely care free. Astoria could only stare as Luna turned around and practically danced towards one of the compartments. Then suddenly she stopped and turned around.

"Be careful Astoria. He's not an honest man," Luna said. Astoria nodded slowly. There was no doubt about who they were talking about. But Astoria did wonder why Luna was warning her about Malfoy. Everyone knew that Astoria was in a relationship with John.

Luna turned around and stepped in to one of the compartments. Astoria sighed and continued her way to find a compartment for herself. She was just about to stop looking for her friends when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Where have you been?" John's voice was soft but full of concern. Astoria smiled at him nervously.

"I was just talking to...to uh...Luna," she said. John frowned.

"Lovegood? What did she want?"

"She wanted to give me this," Astoria said and showed John the Quibbler in her hand. John let out a laugh.

"Brilliant," he said, "I can't wait to find out what secrets Lucius Malfoy has. I bet he secretly adores everything pink. Or maybe he has a dragon hidden in his backyard."

"I think it's probably the first one." Astoria smiled at John. John laughed and hugged her. As soon as John no longer saw her face, the smile vanished from Astoria's lips. She was tired. The nightmares refused to leave her while she slept and when she was awake her thoughts were plagued by guilt over kissing Draco, confusion because of the way Daphne behaved and worry over everything else that was going on in her life.

"Are you okay?" John asked while smoothing down Astoria's hair. Astoria nodded against his shoulder. She had never really hugged anyone like this but it felt good.

"Oi! You two. Over here!" Astoria jumped a little at the sound of her friend's voice. Emma stood at the door of a compartment and was waving at her.

"You go, I have to find Henry and go over a few Quidditch strategies," John said. Astoria nodded. John was a chaser in the Slytherin quidditch team and so far, they weren't doing so well, mainly because of one Ginny Weasley.

"Are you okay?" asked Grace Atwood, one of Astoria's closest friends once Emma had closed the compartment door behind Astoria. Astoria sat down and buried her head in to her hands.

"No," she said. Things were not going the way she had planned. She had thought that the choice between Draco Malfoy and John Avery would be obvious and easy but oh how wrong she had been. She already felt like her heart was being torn in to pieces and it was only January. This was going to be a very, very long year.

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**Thank you for reading, please take the time to tell me what you thought of it.**


	2. Owls and Hypothetical Situations

_**AN:**_This took a really long time to write because I've been incredibly busy and my old computer died and had to be replaced. However, the chapter is ready now and I hope you all enjoy this. I want to thank everyone who's following this story; both new readers and those who've been here since For Every Frozen Heart.

So about this chapter: We see Draco for the first time after the war and get to know how he feels about certain things. Also, Grace proves out to be a little different than Astoria thought. Also, for those of you who are curious, we find out what kind of a wand Astoria has.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.

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Astoria opened her eyes and for a moment she had no idea where she was. She could see green and gradually she began to take in the details. She was in her dormitory. Grace slept peacefully on a bed not far from Astoria. Astoria glanced at the clock on her nightsand. Four in the morning it read. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. But as usual, once she had woken up, there was no going back. She was going to stay awake.

With a sigh Astoria picked up her willow wand and soon she had the little light that she needed to find what she was looking for. It was a small picture with only two people in it. A smiling couple holding hands. The woman in the picture smiled and Astoria was instantly reminded of Daphne. Daphne and her mother looked so alike. Astoria on the other hand had inherited much of her father's looks. The darker hair, sky blue eyes and even the smile. Astoria's father was smiling in the picture too. Astoria could remember the last time her father had smiled. It was the day before she returned to Hogwarts, when he'd hugged her and told her that everything was alright, that Hogwarts was a safe place now. No battles to fear.

With that memory in mind Astoria pulled another picture from the envelope where she kept all her pictures. This picture had only two people in it as well. Two young girls, the other slightly older. Astoria could barely remember when the picture had been taken. She was perhaps eight years old in it. Astoria held the two pictures together. She didn't know when her habit of staring at the moving figures had started.

Suddenly someone moved behind Astoria and in the blink of an eye, Astoria had her wand pointed at the person.

"Merlin 'Tori. I'm just going to the bathroom!" Grace exclaimed. Astoria tried to smile but it failed as she hugged the pictures in n attempt to stop Grace from seeing them. She knew that Grace would be the last person to ever judge her, since Grace had lost her brother and could well undestand what family meant to Astoria. But Astoria was very possessive about her family. She didn' have a mother anymore. She only had Daphne and her father and that was it. There were no uncles or aunts to spend holidays with. Of course there was Theodore and Emma and Grace, but it wasn't the same. She didn't know if she could trust them. But family, she could trust her family.

As Grace continued to the bathroom, Astoria placed the pictures back in to their envelope and closed her eyes. She didn't fall asleep, knowing that there would be nightmares. Astoria knew how ridiculous it sounded. She hadn't even seen the battle of Hogwarts. She hadn't fought. And therefore she had no right to complain about her nightmares since there were people who had lived through the same nightmare she could only dream of. That didn't mean that if she had to make the choice again, she would stay to fight. No, Astoria liked being alive much better than risking her life and dying.

John was waiting for Astoria when she came out of the dormitories. He was smiling and he even offered her his hand. When Astoria took it, the guilt in her stomach made her sick. She was a Slytherin and a decent liar.

Draco stared at his tea in dismay. It was cold. He could have sworn that it had been hot when he'd started reading the Daily Prophet. But apparently not. He could hear an owl behind the kitchen window, tapping its beak against the glass, obviously distressed that it hadn't managed to drop off the letter that carried Draco's name written in cursive. Around five minutes ago, Draco had glanced at the owl and seen that it was not Astoria's owl Gwen, or Theodore's owl or even Blaise's but the owl of his beloved father, Lucius. And frankly the mere idea that his father had something to say, made Draco a little uncomfortable.

Some harsh words had been exchanged between the Malfoy men when Draco had left the manor. His father had called him a coward and said that Draco's "sense of humor was appaling" if he thought leaving in such a manner was appropriate. But Draco had not listened. Instead he had hugged his mother, nodded at his father and apparated away. It had taken some measures to buy the flat that he now owned without his parents noticing. But he was a Malfoy and if Malfoy's did something well, it was hiding.

Eventually, the bird started to get on Draco's nerves so he opened the window and let the miserable looking barn owl in. It seemed that during the last few minutes it had begun to rain and the owl and threfore the letter it was carrying had suffered a little. Draco turned the letter around in his hands a few times before opening it.

_Your mother and I would be delighted if you joined us for dinner this weekend. We have called upon some of our old friends and most of them will be joining us. Your presence would be most appreciated. Your mother and I agree that you can bring someone with you if you wish._

_Your father,_

_Lucius Malfoy_

Draco frowned. Old friends and dinner? He hoped – oh how he hoped – that his father wasn't up to anything. But Draco was even more confused after reading the last sentence. Why were his parents under the impression that he would want to bring someone? Draco had done his best to keep his parents oblivious of Astoria's existance. Of course they knew that she existed, but they had no idea how meaningful Astoria was to Draco. They had no idea that their son was – if not in love – then deeply smitten with the blue eyed witch.

After a careful consideration, Draco composed a letter to his father.

_Dear father,_

_I will come to this dinner of yours, you only need to tell me when and where. I am not bringing anyone with me. _

_DM._

He handed the note to the still waiting owl after writing his father's name on the other side. The owl flew away, seemingly happy in the rain and Draco hoped that his father could read the note even if the ink was ruined. With his quill still in his hand and a piece of parchament on his kitchen table, Draco closed his eyes. He knew he could be making a mistake. He had no idea what kind of people were going to be at this dinner. And he had no idea why he was invited.

Astoria was getting better at potions. Slughorn had repeatedly told her that her succes was rather extraordinary. After all, when he had begun to teach at Hogwarts again, Astoria had shown little talent and little interest towards his subject, but now she was doing very well. Very well indeed. So well in fact, that while Emma and Grace were still struggling with their homework, Astoria had the time to look around the library ad see how it had changed. Once she found that the library seemed to have been fairly unharmed in the war, she retourned to the table where Emma and Grace sat and stared at her quill.

"You can't just sit there, looking like you're not doing anything!" Emma said. Astoria merely looked amused. "If we suffer, you must suffer too. It's an unspoken rule!"

"A rule that I've never even heard of," Astoria argued. Grace looked up from her homework and stared at Astoria. Astoria could tell what Grace was about to say before she even opened her mouth.

"Write to him," Grace said. Astoria opened her mouth but closed it as she found that she had nothing to say. She had run out of excuses to give. She could no longer say that it had been too long since she and Draco had spoken, she couldn't say that she knew he hated her, she could say nothing. So instead, she did as Garce had suggested and she wrote.

Draco had finished reading another boring book about potions and he was just about to move on to the next when he heard something hard tapping against the glass of his kitchen window. He assumed that it was a reply from his father and in an attempt to save his father's owl from another miserable five minutes in the rain he got up and walked to the kitchen. But it wasn't his father's barn owl that was waiting for him. It was a small little owl that Draco recognized immediately. Gwen. Draco hurried to the window and pulled it open, allowing Gwen to fly in. He didn't even close the window before snatching the letter from the small owl.

_Dear Draco,_

_How have you been? It's been a terrible few weeks here. It rains every day. All the time. I don't suppose there's been that much rain in London? Daphne never tells me about the weather. All she can talk about is her fiancée. He's nice, I suppose but I'm not willing to spend every Christmas and Easter with him. I suppose I'll have to find another place to stay. Have you heard of Theodore? He hasn't written to me. And what about your parents? I assume they are doing well. Have you spent much time with them? And how's the weather in London? Better, I suppose. Write to me when you can._

_Astoria G._

Draco smiled at Astoria's small handwriting and the fact that she'd asked about the weather twice. He could imagine the way her brow furrowed as she attempted to sound smart and then noticing that she had stumbled with her words after all. He could also imagine he look on her face when she decided to give up and send the letter to him anyway, most likely becase she was too tired to wite it again. Now that Draco truly thought about it, there weren't many things about Astoria that weren't vividly in his memory. He could remember her smile, her eyes and sometimes even he sound of her voice.

_Astoria, _Draco began to write after running to his bedroom to find a quill,

_The weather out here is quite horrible. I am well. How are you? And how is John? I don't believe that your sister's future husband can be so bad, but if you truly get tired of him, you're most welcome to spend your Christmas holidays as well as Easter here with me..._

Astoria smiled while reading the letter, which earned a curious glance from Emma and John and a more knowing one from Grace. Astoria had a feeling that Grace was very pleased with herself. But she had every right to be. For months Grace had tried to get Astoria to write to Draco but she had failed. But now Astoria had finally done it. She'd written to Draco and she was (even though she'd never admit it to Grace) happy that she had.

"Who's the letter from?" John asked.

"Huh? Oh this? From Daphne. She's found a dress that she wants to wear the next time she has dinner with Graham. It's red. I'm not quite sure why she thinks I should or even would want to know about this," Astoria lied. John nodded. Soon after that John said something about quidditch strategies and left. The second he got up, Emma shot Astoria a glance and raised her eyebrows.

"So what kind of a dress will Malfoy be wearing?" she said. Grace nearly choked on her pumpkin juice and Astoria laughed at the picture that had quickly formed in her mind.

"I'll have to ask him that," she said once her laughter had died enough, so that she could speak.

"Oh you must. But make sure it's not some ridiculous colour. I simply do not believe something like red would suit Malfoy," Grace said while still coughing a little.

Astoria smiled at her friends before going back to the letter.

_...My parents are alright and have invited me to dinner with them. Surprisingly it seems that I am not the only one invited. Do you still have nightmares? I have a considerable amount of free time in my hands and I think I may have found a solution, but I will explain it when you next visit London. Assuming that you wish to visit me when you do._

_DM_

"Can I have a look?" Grace asked. It was late, classes had ended hours ago and Astoria and Grace were in their dormitory. Astoria nodded and handed the letter to Grace. It had no sensitive information in it, so Astoria couldn't really think of a reason why Grace wouldn't be allowed to see it.

"Oh my. That's...wow," Grace said when she handed the letter back to Astoria, "That's quite serious isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"He wants to know how you are doing, and wants you to visit him. And if I didn't know better, I would say that your reply will be a yes," Grace said.

"We're friends. Nothing more."

"Do you snog all of your male friends?"

"No!" exclaimed Astoria. Grace looked thoughtful. The other girls in the dormitory were minding their own business, but Astoria was still a little concerned that they were listening.

"You know, if you really want to leave John," Grace said quietly after sitting down next to Astoria on her bed, "you have to do it so that he doesn't think you're leaving him for Malfoy. Even if you really are. John's ego will be ruined if he finds out you're leaving him for someone like Malfoy."

"Then what do you suggest I do? Hypothetically, that is."

"Well, make it seem as if it's his fault. Find out if he has secrets and if he does, tell him that you can't be with someone who hides things from you," Grace suggested.

"It looks like I've really underestimated you. But I don't think John has any secrets," Astoria said.

"Hmm, you're probably right. He looks like he worships the ground beneath your feet."

"But then again," Astoria said, "Everyone has something they don't want others to know."

"Yes, so that's what you would have to do if you were to hypothetically leave him," Grace said. The two Slytherin girls stared at each other for a while. Astoria was more than a little surprised by Grace's advice and Grace was merely trying to see if she had offended Astoria by assuming that whatever Astoria and John had wasn't that serious.

"But that can wait, can't it?" Astoria said, "It feels a little wrong to dig up your boyfriends secrets with no intention of using them against him." Grace let out a laugh.

"And would digging them up with the intention of ruining him be any less wrong?"

"Of course not. But – I mean – I'm not leaving him. I have no reason to leave him. Maybe...Maybe John's good for me," Astoria figured. Emma got up and sat on to her own bed before picking up her transfiguration book.

"He probably is. And if it's what you want then go with it. But you know, if you have to go through all this consideration just to figure out if you like him, then maybe slow things down a bit and don't get married or anything."

"You're my friend. Aren't you supposed to be the one who encourages me to marry the bloke who has more money?" Astoria asked jokingly. Grace smiled a little.

"Well, I'm your friend not your sister," she said, "and besides. The Malfoys have money too."

**_Thank you for reading! Take the time to tell me what you thought. _**


	3. Rumours

_**AN:**_Yet again it's taken me a long time to write a chapter but I thank you for your patience. So here it is. The third chapter where we begin to see some of the issues the characters are struggling with now that the war's over. Oh, and I want to thank (again) everyone who has followed this story, reviewed it and added it to their favourites. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter.

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It was cold and Astoria hated cold weathers. At least when the temperature dropped and it began to rain and the rain wouldn't stop. Her talk with Grace hadn't really helped either. Everything in Astoria's mind was blurry but she forced her thoughts to clear a little bit as she focused on yet another Herbology lesson. John was there too even though Astoria couldn't figure out why he was interested in Herbology in the first place. She considered Grace's words for a moment. Perhaps breaking up with John because of Draco wasn't fair but it was honest. But since when had Slytherins been known for their honesty?

As Astoria walked back towards the dungeons to go to her potions class she caught sight of Ginny Weasley who was standing in front of a classroom talking to Hermione Granger. Ginny spotted Astoria and stared at her with an odd look in her eyes. Astoria attempted to maintain a neutral look but it came out as a little too confident so Astoria turned to look away quickly. Ginny, as well as everyone else in Astoria's year had heard rumours that Astoria was somehow involved with Malfoy, but of course none of them really knew anything. But as Astoria had found out in the past year, rumours were all it took. All it took to make people believe things that sometimes made no sense.

* * *

Draco stared at the mirror. His reflection looked back at him, pale, thin but more healthy than before. He had dark rings around his eyes, evidence of the lack of sleep that was caused by his various dreams and nightmares that woke him up in the middle of the night. But all in all Draco felt better. At least he wasn't in mortal peril anymore. At least his aunt and the Dark Lord and the rest of his most faithful servants were dead. Sure, there were still people who wanted to harm him. Most of the remaining Death Eaters and their families hadn't been very understanding when the Malfoys had avoided Azkaban. Nor had they been very pleased with how Harry Potter had testified for the Malfoys.

Draco tried to remember what he had been doing before his thoughts had distracted him. Then he looked at the mirror again and saw himself, wearing a suit, and remembered. The dinner organized by his parents was to take place tomorrow and he had decided to wear a suit. He knew that his parents wouldn't be pleased to see that he wasn't wearing dress robes but he didn't really care. They were just clothes and in Draco's opinion his parents should be happy that he was showing up in the first place.

* * *

Saturday morning was white. Sometime in the night it had begun to snow and when Astoria first set foot outdoors she was greeted by an entire landscape covered in the white substance that she so disliked. Grace smirked beside her and Emma just stared ahead causing Astoria to doubt whether she was too lost in her thoughts to even notice the snow. Needless to say, the way to Hogsmeade was something Astoria detested and Grace enjoyed. As Grace pointed out (several times during the journey) she liked snow and the winter and it all just looked so magical. Astoria wanted to hit something. As if on cue, John caught up with them.

"How've you been?" he asked from Astoria.

"Well nothing's changed since yesterday evening," replied Astoria, "Except the snow came and now everything's wonderful and happy and magical and..." But her sarcastic speech was interrupted when John began to laugh. There was something very pure about the way he laughed. Then, to Astoria's surprise he leaned down (since Astoria was rather short and high heels were out of the question in this weather) and placed a kiss on her cheek. It wasn't much and it didn't send shivers down Astoria's spine but there was something very normal about it. Emma and Grace weren't surprised at all and it only took Astoria about a millisecond to recover.

"So basically," John said, "everything's fine and you're hating every minute of it." Astoria nodded.

"I don't like snow."

"Why?" asked Emma. Astoria contemplated on telling them that she hated snow because it was so pure. So pure and yet one drop of mud could ruin a huge amount of it. And frankly, that scared her a bit.

"It's cold," Astoria lied, "and wet and it ruins great shoes." There was no use in telling them, they wouldn't understand. _Draco would understand, _a quiet voice whispered in the back of Astoria's head. She shook it off.

"You look like you could use a cup of hot chocolate or something," John said while he wrapped his arm around Astoria's shoulders. The gesture felt odd but Astoria welcomed it because John was right. She could really use a cup of hot chocolate.

* * *

The dinner was just as horrible as Draco had expected. His parents had invited lots of their old "friends" who were only interested in spending time with people who had money. Draco had also noticed that during the 45 minutes he had now spent at the dinner, his mother had glanced at him most likely a hundred times but she hadn't said anything. The other surprising thing was that Theodore was there and Draco had no idea why his parents had invited him.

Once the actual dinner part was over the Malfoys and their guests retreated to one of the drawing rooms for drinks and such. There Draco was free to confront Theodore.

"Why are you here?" he asked. Theodore chuckled but Draco could see something other than amusement in his friend's eyes.

"I have no idea," said Theodore and at once Draco knew what bothered Theodore. Theodore was used to knowing everything and the second something happened that he didn't understand or know the reason for, Theodore grew insanely uncomfortable.

"Draco!" Narcissa's voice called out. Draco gave Theodore a confused look and Theodore raised his eyebrow slightly before Draco went to find his mother.

"Yes, mother."

"I want you to meet a friend of mine, Michael Greengrass. I believe his daughter Daphne was in your year." Draco's face lost all colour. He just hoped that Michael Greengrass knew nothing of his relationship with Astoria.

"Ah, yes, my daughters have spoken of you," Michael Greengrass said. Draco nodded, his cheeks now looking more red by the second. Spoken of him. What had the bloody Greengrass sisters told their father? Draco cleared his throat.

"Really? I was convinced that they didn't really like me." But Draco already knew that convincing Michael Greengrass was a lost cause. There was a certain glint in his eyes, the same kind that was so often lighting up Astoria's eyes, that revealed to Draco that Michael Greengrass did indeed know something.

"Michael? It has been such a long time," said a woman that seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Draco was sure that he'd never met her before. She had greying hair and was at least ten years older than Draco's mother.

"Cassandra. Such a lovely surprise," Mr. Greengrass said but Draco could see that he was anything but glad to see this Cassandra person.

"Cassandra Selwyn," the woman introduced herself, "such a good thing to see that you and you're family are alright, Narcissa." Draco's mother smiled.

"Oh and Michael! I believe congrats are in order," Cassandra Selwyn said. Draco felt something brush his shoulder and saw that at some point Theodore had appeared by his side.

"Why is that?" Michael Greengrass looked puzzled.

"Well, isn't your younger daughter getting married? I heard she and the Avery boy are engaged." Draco felt like someone had punched him in the chest. All the air in his lungs was suddenly useless. Astoria and John were engaged? But why had Astoria started writing letters to him? Draco's Slytherin mind quickly came up with a solution. It had to be because Astoria didn't want to tell him. She had to be afraid that he wouldn't come to their wedding so she'd decided to become friends with him. The thought made Draco feel sick.

"I-I-I don't believe so. She hasn't said anything to me." Michael Greengrass looked at least as shocked as Draco felt. Cassandra Selwyn merely smiled.

"Oh you know how young girls are these days. Maybe she isn't going to tell you. They may be eloping." At that Theodore let out a laugh. Everyone, including Draco, turned to stare at him.

"Astoria eloping? He must have slipped her a really powerful love potion." Mr. Greengrass looked shocked, clearly considering the possibility while Cassandra and Narcissa just looked surprised.

* * *

Astoria looked at herself in the mirror. The snowy day hadn't been that bad after all. But as Astoria studied her reflection, something began to bother her. Her own blue eyes stared back at her, unchanged. So many things had happened and yet nothing in her eyes gave that away. Nothing in her entire appearance gave that away.

"Grace?" Astoria asked, "You wouldn't know any spells that have something to do with hair, would you?" Grace gave her a weird look before going through her trunk.

"Here," she said and handed Astoria a book called _1001 Beauty spells. _Astoria didn't even want to know why Grace had a book like that with her at Hogwarts so she didn't ask. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for.

"There," she said and pointed at a spell, "Do that." Grace looked alarmed.

"_You want me to cut your hair_?!"

"Yes. Come on. It's easy," Astoria assured and turned back to the mirror. She could see Grace shaking her head before waving her wand. In a second, locks of Astoria's dark hair lay on the floor and her long hair was now only to her shoulders.

"Merlin," Grace whispered and Astoria agreed. The hair looked better than she had imagined it would.

"So why'd you cut your hair?" Grace asked a few moment later.

"I want something to change. We're going to leave Hogwarts in a few months and I want to be a healer. And I think that it's time I stopped being Daphne Greengrass' little sister and started acting like Astoria Greengrass. I get to want things too. I get to have goals and maybe," Astoria couldn't help the smile that crept to her lips, "I've decided that it's time to achieve them."

"Oh, okay," Grace said. Astoria noticed the tone of her friend's voice but chose to ignore it and so she stared at the mirror instead. Grace was clearly going to say something but decided against it. Astoria pursed her lips slightly before forcing a smile on them.

"What's going on?" she asked with the kindest tone she could muster.

"There'ssomethingwrongwithEmma."

"I'm sorry?"

"There is something wrong with Emma," Grace said with a worried look. But it wasn't worry for Emma, Astoria realized. No. Grace was worried about telling Astoria.

"What do you mean?" asked Astoria before turning away from her reflection and looking at Grace.

"I don't know. It's just – I – Today she just – She wasn't normal today! You must have noticed. She was all quiet and reserved and if that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with her then I don't even know what - "

"What do you think it is?" Astoria interrupted when she first heard a hint of panic in Grace's voice. Truth be told, she'd noticed it too. During their Hogsmeade trip, Emma had barely said a word.

"I don't know but I don't like it. I thought this stuff was supposed to end with the war." Astoria smiled because she realised that in a way Grace still harboured the thought that the war had brought out the worst in people, not the other way around.

"I know. But - " Astoria hesitated for a moment. She struggled to find a way to explain things. "But the war is a wound. Think of it that way. The war caused a wound that will take a long time to heal."

"I get it. Trust me. I get it," Grace's tone was harsh and it was at that moment that Astoria remembered the first time she'd truly talked with Grace. It was at that moment that she remembered Grace's dead brother and realised that she was not alone with the fear that things would never be back to normal.

* * *

Draco lay quietly in his bed. He was a mess of feelings: anger, sadness, betrayal and some other emotion that reminded him of affection that he couldn't quite put a name on. He closed his eyes and decided that he didn't want to be awake. Even the nightmares were better than thinking about Astoria and John.

Could it be true? Draco had never really thought about Astoria getting married before. He'd never even considered that the man she would marry was John. He'd always thought – always hoped – that John was not that important to her.

And just as Draco was about to fall back to the blissful realm of dreams and nightmares, something tapped on the kitchen window. Even in his bedroom Draco could hear it. An insisting tapping noise. He opened his eyes, ready to curse the bloody bird that dared to disturb him. But he was so surprised to see an unfamiliar owl that the thoughts of curses left his mind. It was a tawny owl and as Draco took the letter from it, his heart stopped. There was a seal that kept the letter closed. A seal with a G in the middle. _Greengrass_, Draco realised. It had arrived. This would be it. Astoria's wedding invitation. But when Draco opened it he realised he'd been wrong. This was worse. Worse for him at least.

_Dear Mr. Malfoy, _the letter began

_I would be most honoured if you would join me for tea tomorrow at two. Send your reply back with this owl. _

_Michael Greengrass._

* * *

**_Thank you so much for reading, take the time to tell me what you thought._**


	4. The Pieces of the Game

**AN: **It's been a while since my last update and during that time I've gotten some lovely reviews. So thank you for everyone who took the time to tell me what you thought! This chapter was actually rather fun to write and I hope all of you enjoy this as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, never have, never will.

* * *

Draco got out of bed at nine o'clock on Sunday morning. He hadn't had any nightmares which was mainly because he'd slept two hours. He couldn't figure out what Michael Greengrass could possibly want from him. Surely Astoria hadn't told him about their relationship? But then again, Draco thought, he and Astoria didn't really have a relationship. And if it wasn't about Astoria, what did Michael Greengrass want to talk to him about?

Two o'clock arrived far too soon and Draco apparated to the Greengrass residence. The house looked charming. It wasn't nearly as big as Malfoy manor, but not many houses were. Funnily enough the house, which was made entirely of bricks it seemed, was surrounded by the greenest garden Draco had ever seen. The garden of Malfoy manor was exquisite but there was something very interesting about the way the Greengrass' garden spread around the house. But the thing that made Draco actually laugh, was the notion that indeed, the grass around the house seemed to be an unearthly shade of green. Even as Draco stood in front of the door, waiting for someone to open, he wondered whether there was a spell that kept the garden so alive during the winter.

The door was opened by Mr. Greengrass himself. Draco didn't smile but nodded his head as Mr. Greengrass invited him in.

"The garden is very beautiful this time of year," Mr Greengrass said as he and Draco sat next to a small table set next to a huge window. Draco didn't know how to reply and chose to stay silent instead.

"Astoria always enjoyed the garden. They played hide and seek there, Daphne and Astoria. I don't recall Daphne ever winning. But then again, Astoria never minded getting dirt on her dress," said Mr. Greengrass. Draco wasn't quite sure if he should feel offended. Was Michael Greengrass calling him dirt?

"But, as the case usually is, my youngest daughter has managed to keep her personal life a bit of a secret from me. She never talks to me about it, which is, I suppose, understandable since I doubt she cares what I think. But that does not mean that I am not gravely concerned for my daughter's well being."

"And is that why I am here?" Draco's voice didn't give away how confused he was. Mr. Greengrass seemed to know that and smiled.

"Yes. Daphne tells me that you have...an interest, shall we say, in my daughter. She says that you and Astoria are friends. Am I correct?"

"Yes." Mr. Greengrass nodded. This was clearly what he had wanted to hear. Draco thought it unwise to tell Mr. Greengrass that he would have very much liked to be more than just friends with his daughter.

"Daphne also tells me that Astoria has now for quite some time been seeing a young man by the name of John Avery. I've done my research and found that he is the nephew of a Death Eater, so you may understand my concern for my daughter's safety. And just yesterday that old hag Cassandra Selwyn," there was an edge to Greengrass' voice that signaled a very deep dislike for Mrs. Selwyn, "said that my daughter plans to marry the man. All without introducing me to him."

Draco swallowed. So Astoria had not told anyone that he was a Death Eater. That was good.

"I must say, Mr. Greengrass, that I'm having some trouble seeing why I'm here," Draco admitted.

"Your family is well known for being full of untrustworthy people. People who will find any means necessary to get what they want. And I think you have information about this Avery boy that I don't have and I'm very kindly asking you to share said information with me." Michael Greengrass' face gave nothing away, but Draco still had a hard time believing that this was the reason he'd been invited for tea. But, Draco decided, if he ever wanted a chance with Astoria, he might as well get on good terms with her father.

"John Avery is a nobody. He has no remarkable talents or interests. His greatest achievement is not getting himself killed on a daily basis, I think. He seems like a very simple person," said Draco. He was, perhaps, exaggerating a little but to be honest, there was nothing extraordinary about John Avery.

"I see. What about Astoria? Does he love her?"

"I don't know about that," Draco responded. Mr. Greengrass gave him a stare that nearly made Draco smile since it was so similar to the one Astoria always gave him when he said something she didn't like.

"Now now Mr Malfoy, I thought we were going to be honest with each other," Michael Greengass said. Draco looked down at the tea cup which he hadn't touched yet.

"I think he thinks he loves her. And I think she'd very much like to be in love with him," Draco muttered. Mr. Greengrass looked very serious and Draco didn't like that. In his experience, the moment people turned unnaturally serious, something was wrong. Instinctively Draco made sure that if necessary, he could get his wand out quickly.

"Has Astoria ever told you how her mother died?" The question caught Draco off guard.

"N-No. No she hasn't."

"But I do suppose that she's told you that it was my fault?" There was a touch of sadness in the eyes of Mr. Greengrass that made Draco look down immediately.

"No, I don't think she's told me that either."

"Well, I don't suppose it matters how my wife died. All that matters is that it is now my job to take care of my daughters. And I remember – believe me, I remember - how Astoria cried when Eirene died and I will do anything to make sure she doesn't get hurt like that again. And I don't like the sound of this Jonathan Avery." Draco smiled and tasted his tea for the first time.

"I do believe it's just John. Not Jonathan." Mr. Greengrass scoffed and picked up his tea cup. Draco could feel that he was being studied, but he didn't pay attention to it. Instead he focused his attentions to the room around him. The sitting room in which they were was rather large and comfortable looking. Oddly enough, it wasn't even close to what he had imagined. The sunlight lit up the room very nicely and Draco was sure that during darker times the massive fireplace would shed a decent amount of light.

The walls were covered in bookshelves and where the shelves ended, the paintings started. There were hardly any portraits which seemed very uncommon to Draco who had grown up surrounded by the pictures of his ancestors. In the Greengrass house however, there were only a few people to be seen on canvas. Most of the paintings depicted scenes of nature: a boat on open sea, an oak tree on a hill and a small house not far from the sea shore.

"Do you enjoy art, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco was – to put it mildly – surprised by the question.

"I...Not really."

"Then what is it that you're interested in? Besides my daughter," Michael Greengrass asked. Draco swallowed. So the eldest Greengrass did know about his feelings towards Astoria and from the way Mr. Greengrass had talked about John, Draco got the idea that anyone who wanted to be with Astoria would have to pass a very close inspection.

"My family," Draco replied confidently, "My family means a great deal to me." It was true. Draco wasn't on speaking terms with his father but that didn't mean that he didn't care for him. Narcissa, on the other hand, was very important to Draco and as much as he hated to admit it, there were very few things that Draco would not have done if his mother had asked.

"Even after everything they've done?" Again, Draco was reminded of Astoria. It was exactly the sort of question that Astoria would ask. Maybe she was more like her father than anyone had realised.

"Yes. Even then."

"I must say I find that rather hard to believe. But if what you say is true and you truly care for your family then I must also say that it is a very respectable thing," said Michael Greengrass. He checked his watch before turning back to Draco and saying:

"Well, I do believe it is quite late. I have other appointments today as well, but it was a pleasure finally meeting you in person Mr. Malfoy." Draco nodded and let himself be led back to the door.

"And Draco, if I may call you that, I think you will find it useful to know that Astoria is not very good at making up her mind. She will like one thing at first then abandon it for another, prettier thing and then someday she will return to the first again. And then she'll, most likely, abandon it again."

At that second Draco thought he saw a glimpse of dark hair disappear behind one of the huge trees outside but he decided that he was imagining it. Turning his attention back to Mr. Greengrass Draco pondered at the thing he had been told. It was true. Astoria never seemed to make a decision if she wasn't absolutely sure of the outcome. Or at least so it seemed to Draco. And yet, even when he was so sure of what Astoria thought, she would always prove that he had never even had a clue. But it still annoyed Draco a little bit that Mr. Greengrass thought him so blind that after over two years he did not already know everything Mr. Greengrass had just said.

"Then I suggest you take in to account the fact that that theory of yours has one little flaw," Draco said. Mr. Greengrass looked surprised and Draco felt proud of himself.

"And what is that?"

"It's not her game. She doesn't rule the chess board. It's not just her and a board of pieces who do everything she says. In real life the pieces, or at least most of them, have their own minds and their own tactics as well."

* * *

Astoria was rather disappointed when she didn't receive any letters during the next four days. Not even silly letters from Daphne or the more serious ones from her father. But most importantly, she received no word of Draco either. By Thursday, the lack of new things was getting more and more frustrating.

"Oh stop moping, will you! Write to them yourself," Grace snapped when Astoria mentioned it for the fourth time.

"I would but..."

"But what? I don't get it. I honestly do not get it!" Grace was frustrated too. The homework was getting harder as they came closer to the end of their time at Hogwarts and out of all of Astoria's friends the stress was most evident in Grace. Emma, on the other hand, was still giving everyone the silent treatment. She spoke barely five sentences to her friends a day and Astoria had no idea why.

"It's a game," said Emma which caused Astoria and Grace to almost jump from their seats at the Slytherin table, "She's not going to write to them since it would mean that she'd have to admit that she cares." Grace shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"So that's it? You won't write to your sister because it means you'd lose the game?"

"No," insisted Astoria, "It's not like that. It's just...I've never really written to Daphne. I mean, I did when she first went to Hogwarts and I had to stay home but when she got home she said she didn't like that I wrote to her so I stopped. And since then she's always been the one to send me letters if necessary. Especially during this year. So no, it's not some stupid game it's just that my relationship with my sister isn't exactly..."

"Functional?" suggested a deep voice from behind Astoria.

"Hello John," both Emma and Grace greeted. John kissed Astoria's cheek and sat down next to her. He looked like he'd been running. His cheeks were flushed and his brow furrowed in a way that was almost comical. But mostly, he just looked very upset about something.

"What's wrong?" Astoria asked.

"They're spreading a rumour about you," said John. The words came out of his mouth like poison and Astoria's heart skipped a few beats. _Christmas._ Had John finally found out that she'd kissed Draco?

"What is it?" Grace asked before Astoria could utter a word.

"They're saying – and I know it's not true – that you're grandmother or grandfather or something like that, was a half-blood. And no, don't say a thing," John insisted when he saw the look on Astoria's face, "I know it's just a lie. It's ridiculous. The Greengrass bloodline is one of the purest."

Astoria swallowed and turned to stare at her plate. All the air in her lungs had vanished and the happy chatter of students in the Great Hall had vanished. It was still there in the background but Astoria couldn't hear it. What had gone wrong? Who had told? It was not her. It was not Daphne. But why did it matter? Why should it matter? John's words echoed in her mind. _One of the purest. I know it's just a lie. _Sure, the Greengrass line was pure. Her father had no muggle blood. But her mother's mother had been a half blood. And for some reason Astoria had never stopped to think, she'd never even considered that it would matter to John. But she knew what it would mean to Draco. And what was even worse than that? In the end it didn't take a genius to find out what had happened.

"Who started it?" Grace asked but Astoria already knew. She ignored John saying that he didn't know, she ignored Grace's questioning look. All she did was stare at the person opposite to her. The person who had, apparently known that the news of Astoria's grandmother would possibly cause the end of her relationship with both John and Draco and perhaps even her friendship with Theodore. The only person who could possibly care about it. The only person who had acted so very suspiciously during the last week. The only person who looked like she was going to be sick. Emma.

_**Thank you for reading! And do take the time to tell me what you thought. **_


	5. There Have Been Better Days

**AN: **I want to thank everyone who's reviewed and followed and added this story to their favourites. So now to the chapter: this chapter is a bit longer than the earlier ones and I'm thinking that the following chapters might be either the same length as this or even longer, so please take the time to tell me what you think about that. Without further boring you, here's the chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

It was time for Herbology again. Astoria was vaguely aware of Grace walking beside her and guiding her to the right direction. Astoria felt numb. Emma had told someone that Astoria's grandmother Dione was a half-blood and now John was upset and convinced that it was nothing more than a mean rumour. John also seemed rather fixed on figuring out who had started the rumour.

Astoria, on the other hand, didn't care that her grandmother was a half-blood. All she cared about was that if and when the information got out of Hogwarts (which it probably already had) it would mean the end of most of her relationships; the romantic ones and the friendships. Draco and Theodore would both hate her. But it was still a surprise to Astoria to see how John was reacting. She'd never imagined that John would care about blood purity. She'd never thought that it mattered to him. And now that she knew it did, she wasn't sure what to think. This would surely mean the end of their relationship and Astoria was quite sure that if John was being honest about his disgust for half-bloods, breaking up was a good idea.

"Astoria?" asked Grace quietly. Astoria turned to look at her friend. Grace looked concerned which Astoria thought was strange. She had to admit that out of Grace and Emma, she'd always thought Grace would be the one to cause her trouble. But apparently that wasn't the situation.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked. Astoria nodded and looked around. John wasn't with them anymore, he was talking to Henry, another Slytherin in their year.

"It's true. The rumour. It's all true," Astoria whispered. Grace looked surprised for a moment but hid her emotions as fast as he could.

"I see." There was no edge to Grace's voice.

"Doesn't it make you feel sick? Don't you hate me for not telling you that my blood isn't as pure as everyone likes to think?" Astoria asked. Grace looked at her angrily which confused Astoria.

"You may have forgotten that my brother was murdered by Death Eaters. I don't exactly fancy that whole blood purity thing," Grace said. Astoria nodded. A short silence settled upon the two while they watched John talk to Henry. John seemed to notice it though, since he was soon walking towards them.

"Do you have any idea who could have started that rumour?" John asked. Astoria thought that if she opened her mouth she might actually throw up on the spot. Grace rolled her eyes at John and just as she was about to say something, professor Sprout arrived.

In McGonagall's Transfiguration class Astoria was finally beginning to grasp how the rumour had affected people. She got some dirty looks from Slytherins, even from students younger than her which was infuriating but mostly people acted as if nothing had happened. Astoria did notice Ginny Weasley giving her an oddly calculative look, as if she was trying to figure out if the rumour was true. The very odd highlight of Astoria's day was when she was walking away from the Great Hall and Luna Lovegood materialised next to her and said that Astoria shouldn't mind the people talking. They were – according to Lovegood – only affected by little creatures that crept in to your brain and made you angry. Astoria wasn't quite sure which was more horrifying: the look on every Slytherin's face when they saw her talking to Luna or the fact that Astoria actually wanted to believe the story about the brain-manipulating little creatures.

But that little highlight wasn't quite enough to balance out the worse sides of the day that were yet to come. It was almost the end of the Transfiguration lesson when Slughorn knocked on the door and walked in, slightly out of breath, and asked Astoria to follow him to his office immediately. Astoria nodded, picked up her things and followed Slughorn out with a blank expression. She didn't even glance back at the mixture of sadness and surprise on Grace's face or the sheer shock on John's.

"Miss Greengrass, I'm afraid to say I have the most horrible news for you," said Slughorn. Astoria tried to prepare herself for whatever Slughorn was going to say but there was no way to prepare for what he said next.

"Your sister sent us word that your father has been injured and is treated at St. Mungo's hospital. We will of course arrange for you to be transported there right away and-"

"What happened to him?" Astoria asked. Slughorn looked confused.

"W-What?"

"What happened to my father? How was he hurt?"

"Oh, it seems that a patient - wasn't all there apparently – hit him with a spell. Most unfortunate, most unfortunate. But as said before the fireplace of this room has been arranged to take you straight to St. Mungo's -"

"My things," Astoria interrupted again.

"I'm sorry?"

"My things. My books. I can't take them to St. Mungo's. And my clothes. I'll have to change my clothes." Again, it took a moment for Slughorn to grasp what she was saying.

"Of course, of course. Be quick!" He called out the last words to Astoria who was already running towards the dungeons.

Astoria ran and ran, ignoring the pain in her lungs and the tears that were so close to falling down her cheeks. How could this be? How could her entire life fall apart like this in one day? And as she ran Astoria was forming a plan in her mind just in case she ever crossed paths with the lunatic who had hurt her father.

Astoria threw her books on to her bed and changed out of her Hogwarts robes in to a disturbingly muggle-like outfit that Daphne would surely hate. Astoria clutched her wand while taking a last look at her things. Her eyes landed briefly on the potions book Draco had given her a little over a year ago and for a moment she was strangely tempted to grab it and take it with her. She decided against it though as Grace tumbled in to the room. She looked at Astoria for a long moment, glancing between the mess of books and clothes on Astoria's bed and Astoria's hand that was gripping the wand.

"What's happened?" Grace finally asked.

"My father's been hurt." The look on Grace's face was neutral but her eyes spoke of a deep understanding. Astoria stared at Grace and was once again baffled by the fact that Grace was turning out to be the most loyal and helpful friend she could have hoped for. But then again, Astoria thought bitterly, apparently trusting your friends wasn't that smart. No matter how well you thought you knew them.

"Um, Astoria?" asked Grace, "What are you waiting for?" Astoria blinked and realised what Grace meant. She tore out of the room and ran through the common room, earning more than a few curious looks. She was almost out of the dungeons when something hard hit her, sending her falling backwards. Astoria managed to turn herself so that instead of falling on her back and hitting her head, she fell on her side, painfully on top of her arm. She got up and stared at what – or who – had ran in to her and her eyes settled on Emma. The anger that had been building up inside her chest since morning finally became unbearable.

"What, exactly, do you think you are doing?" she hissed. She was pleased that Emma had the good sense to look as if she was ashamed.

"I was just walking and - "

"DO YOU THINK - " Astoria shrieked, "Do you think that I'm interested in why you ran in to me? In case you do, you're wrong. I want to know, and Merlin help you if you lie to me, why you did what you did."

"And what did I do?" Emma asked as she rose from the ground. Astoria let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

"Oh? I see. Well let me refresh your memory a little bit. This morning someone – someone meaning you – told everyone that my grandmother was a half-blood. Now, "Astoria was slightly breathless but there was no stopping once she'd started, "I would very much like to know why you did that. I'd get it if we weren't...if I hadn't considered you to be my friend. But since I did, for a long time you know, consider you as my best friend, I'm very confused."

"I... I do have an explanation, Astoria," Emma stuttered. The shocked and slightly scared look on her face suddenly reminded Astoria why she had been running in the dungeons in the first place and she raised her hand to signal Emma that Emma ought to stay quiet.

"Here's what we're going to do," said Astoria as she took a step towards Emma, "I'm going to go and see my father in St. Mungo's now and when I get back, you better have a good explanation and a very good apology. And then maybe, maybe I won't carve your eyes out of your head." Astoria was rather pleased with the threat she had made as she walked away from a frozen-looking Emma. The threat of carving Emma's eyes out was of course an empty one but it had come to her so quickly that it would have been a shame to leave it in her head unused. Astoria could still remember where she'd first heard someone threat another person with those exact words. It had been Daphne who had told a 9-year-old Astoria that werewolves were capable of ripping out your eyes with one claw. It had taken Astoria a while to learn that Daphne had just said it to terrify her but the words had apparently never quite left Astoria's mind.

Slughorn was still waiting in his office when Astoria arrived. He nodded at her as she stepped in to the fireplace. The feeling of travelling though the floo network had never been Astoria's favourite but she was ready to bare it. She landed in to the lobby of St. Mungo's and a healer behind a large desk told her that she would find her father in the fourth floor. Astoria nodded and ran up to the fourth floor. A sign at the beginning of the corridor said SPELL DAMAGE. Astoria stopped, realising that she'd forgotten to ask which room her father was in but just then she spotted a girl with light brown hair and elegant clothing.

"DAPHNE!" Astoria called out before she could stop herself. Daphne turned to look at her and Astoria could see that at some point that day, Daphne had cried. Astoria tore through the corridor and stopped right before her sister. Daphne stared at Astoria with wide eyes.

"What's happened to you? Your hair?" she asked. Astoria was still trying to catch her breath from all the running.

"Nothing. I just cut it. I mean, Grace did. I asked her to. Got tired of it." Daphne beheld her sister for a moment before, surprisingly, wrapping her arms around Astoria and hugging her tightly.

"It's going to be fine, Tori," she said. Astoria frowned in confusion but wrapped her arms around Daphne.

"I know."

"This is not like what happened to mum. Dad's getting out of here, okay?" Astoria closed her eyes as she realised that Daphne wasn't hugging her because she thought that Astoria was scared, but because Daphne herself was scared.

"I know. Besides, mum didn't get attacked. It was an accident. Accidents are usually much more dangerous," said Astoria. Daphe hugged Astoria even tighter. They never spoke about their mother. Never.

Daphne took a step away from her sister and stared at her.

"You know, that hair really suits you," she said, "How's John?" Astoria's heart skipped a few beats but she just let out a sigh and decided that there was no use in lying to Daphne.

"Honestly, I'm going to leave him."

"Why?"

"Because he cares about the fact that grandma Dione was a half-blood." Daphne looked stunned.

"You told him and he said - "

"Oh I didn't tell him. Emma did. That untrustworthy...person, started a rumour about it. Everyone knows. John's convinced that it's a lie but I think that if he cares he can go. I don't need someone like that in my life. I don't need someone I have to lie to." To Astoria's great surprise Daphne nodded.

"I agree," said Daphne,"Now. Do you want to see dad?" Astoria nodded and followed her sister to the room her father was in.

Michael Greengrass lay on the bed with several bruises on his arms and a few cuts on his face but his eyes looked as bright as ever. His eyes landed on Astoria and he gasped.

"Astoria?" he asked. Astoria smiled and she could tell – even without seeing her – that Daphne was smiling too.

"Dad?" Astoria smirked.

"I'm Daphne," Daphne said and both Astoria and her father laughed. But soon Michael's expression turned far more serious.

"You look just like your mother. She had hair like that too, when she was your age," he said. Astoria's smile faded as well.

"Are you alright, dad?" Astoria asked. Michael Greengrass nodded.

"Never been better."

"What happened?" asked Daphne. She stood beside Astoria and Astoria could almost see how happy their father was to see his two daughters standing next to each other in such a friendly manner.

"A patient. He'd suffered quite the blow to the head I'm afraid. He was a little confused as to where he was and when I tried to give him his potion he decided to hex me. A very unusual way to thank someone, but people haven't exactly treated Slytherins – old or young – very nicely lately."

"Especially those who have tea with the likes of Draco Malfoy," Daphne remarked. Astoria looked wildly between her sister and her father.

"Oh so this is my fault, is it?" she asked. Daphne shook her head.

"Nope. Dad's the one who was having tea with Malfoy. I saw him leaving the house when I was coming back from home," Daphne said. Astoria gave Daphne an amused glance that asked "_when you were coming back home?_" Daphne returned Astoria's glance with a glare and Astoria turned back to her father with a small smile at her lips.

"So what did Malfoy want?" she asked.

"Nothing. I invited him to our house to discuss your engagement with John Avery," Michael said. Daphne gasped beside Astoria.

"You two are engaged?!"

"No!" Astoria insisted, "How in the name of Merlin did you come up with that?" Astoria's father looked confused.

"Cassandra Selwyn said that..."

"And you believed her? I'm not getting married!" Astoria was shouting quite loudly by now. Her throat felt tight and Astoria found herself gasping for breath. Things were happening too fast. Emma and the truth about her bloodline, her father's injury, the thought of losing all of her friends and now this?

Astoria stared as her father let out a sigh of relief before suddenly gripping his side. Both Astoria and Daphne tensed immediately.

"It's nothing," their father said, "The broken rib just disagrees with me." Astoria nodded and turned to look at Daphne whose focus had suddenly snapped to the door. She seemed to hear something neither Astoria nor Michael heard.

"Right here," said a healer who appeared to the door, obviously escorting someone to the room. Astoria groaned as she saw the man who had come with the healer.

"GRAHAM!" Daphne squealed and ran in to the arms of her boyfriend. Graham Montague was heavily built and rather tall and it looked very odd when he hugged Daphne, who was a lot smaller than him. Astoria was sure that it couldn't be comfortable.

"Hello mr. Mon – Graham," Michael Greengrass said from his bed with a somewhat annoyed tone. Astoria smiled at how difficult it seemed for her father to call Daphne's boyfriend by his first name.

Graham nodded at Michael and then at Astoria before he and Daphne went out to the corridor to...well, Astoria wasn't sure what they were going to do and she also wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"Oh Astoria," said Daphne who reappeared at the door, "Theodore should be here in a few minutes. Just thought you should know." Astoria's eyes widened. Perhaps Theodore was not the man she most wanted to see, but she was still glad that she was going to see one of her best friends. Michael Greengrass didn't look so happy.

"And who is Theodore?"

"A friend," Astoria and Daphne replied at the same time. Michael Greengrass looked from one of his daughters to the other and decided that his daughters had far too many male friends for his liking.

_**Thank you for reading. I know some of you are really hoping to see what Draco's up to, and I promise that in the next chapter we'll see plenty of him. Take the time to tell me what you thought of both the chapter itself and the length of it. Was it too long or too short?**_


	6. A Little Peace of Mind

_**AN:**_I'm a bit out of my schedule since I've been aiming to update this monthly. But here it is either way, chapter 6. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and the ones before that. It's great to hear what you think of the story.

This chapter along with the next one will sum up Astoria's journey in Hogwarts. We'll get to see some old acquaintances again. Theodore will make his appearance in this chapter (don't worry, there'll be plenty of him in chapters to come too) and some other characters will make an appearance in the next one. I hope you'll all enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, never have, never will

* * *

Astoria waited in the hall while one of the healers checked her father's bandages. She waited patiently with her hands clasped in her lap. She was prepared for Theodore's arrival and even though the idea of putting so much faith in a Nott – even if it was Theodore – made her a little uneasy. Astoria had gone through several scenarios in her head, attempting to figure out why Emma would have told the whole school about Astoria's grandmother. Of course, now that the first stages of shock had passed, Astoria had come to realize how little effect the whole thing would really have in her life. Sure, she might lose John and definitely Emma, and maybe even Theodore, but she was used to being alone. Even the thought of losing her relationship with Draco – whatever that relationship was – had also crossed her mind but she'd promptly pushed it away. To keep herself busy, she had pinned together a plan that would be a little risky. The risks being the eventual loss of all of her friends and getting stabbed in the back by a Nott.

Astoria saw Theodore at the end of the corridor before he saw her. Her heart hammered in her chest but she did her best to stop any feelings from manifesting on her face. She needed to appear as composed as possible.

"Astoria. I'm sorry to meet you here," Theodore greeted. There were only little traces of actual worry or grief in his voice but Astoria assumed it was appropriate since Theodore didn't know her father. It was also likely that Daphne had told Theodore that Mr. Greengrass was not in danger anymore.

"I need to tell you something." Astoria's voice was hoarse and Theodore's eyes widened a little in surprise. He sat down beside Astoria on one of the benches lining the corridor's wall. Astoria took a little breath and then launched in to the story of what had happened. She made no attempt to hide the fact that her grandmother Dione was in fact a half-blood.

"Huh. So Emma didn't know about all of this before?" Theodore asked. Astoria raised her eyebrows a little but shook her head.

"No. I don't think so. She would have said something before, right? And how would she know?" It was clear that Theodore was very good at hiding his reactions but his eyes betrayed him and Astoria caught a strange look in them. Astoria also caught a strange scent hanging aroud Theodore. Was he wearing cologne?

"Theodore? What aren't you telling me?" she demanded. Theodore's lower lip trembled a little and Astoria was almost convinced he was trying not to smile.

"I'm just surprised, that's all. You don't really expect this sort of thing when you come to see one of your best friends after her dad gets attacked by some nutter." Astoria gave him a small smile which soon grew in to a grin as she grasped what he was saying.

"I'm one of your best friends? That's...oh wow...I never expected to hear something like this! I'm touched," Astoria smiled. Theodore rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, well, don't be too flattered. I've only got two or three friends I trust so the fact that you're one of my best friends means that you just beat Zabini." Astoria made a face at the mention of Blaise Zabini, her sister's ex-boyfriend.

"How is Zabini?"

"Fine," said Theodore with a smile, "not that I've seen him in three months but I suppose he's still out there somewhere. But did you really tell me that heart-wrenching story just to talk about Zabini?" Now Astoria was the one with the intense need to roll her eyes. She soon grew serious however, as she went through her plan one more time.

"No. Assuming that Emma didn't know about my grandmother we're also assuming that someone told her about it. And I want to know who that is. No," Astoria corrected herself, "I need to know who that is." Theodore nodded. He understood, just like Astoria had hoped he would.

"Have you asked Emma?" Theodore asked. Astoria shook her head.

"No. But she'll tell me when I get back to Hogwarts." Theodore raised his eyebrows. He was obviously amused by something and Astoria felt a great desire to punch him.

"What?" she hissed through her teeth. Theodore shook his head and kept smiling.

"It's nothing. Sometimes I just think about the times when everyone thought you shouldn't be in Slytherin. I'm not wrong very often – never, actually – but I have to say I was wrong about you. So were Draco and the rest." Astoria stared at Theodore for a moment in amazement. Then disbelief settled in her.

"What's happened to you? You're suddenly all...you're acting like a normal person!" Theodore let out a laugh at that as he stared at a painting on the opposite wall.

"Well, hopefully we're not at that point yet. Have you talked to Draco?" The change of subject was sudden enough for Astoria to realize that whatever was going on with Theodore wasn't open for discussion.

"No. Why?"

"Nothing. How's John?"

"Why are you all so interested in John?" sighed Astoria, "He's leaving me, I suppose. Once I go back to school and tell him that the rumour is true, he won't want anything to do with me. But that's fine. I don't need someone I can't trust with my secrets." Theodore gave her an odd look before turning back to the painting. He was biting his lip. Astoria had never noticed the habit before which led her to believe that it was a new one. Theodore narrowed his eyes at the painting before surprising Astoria by turning to look at her.

"I knew," he said. Astoria struggled to keep up.

"Knew about...?"

"About your grandmother. My father knew too." He let the wrods sink in before turning back to the painting, "I thought you should know." Astoria licked her lips and closed her hands in to fists.

"Did you tell Emma?"she asked as the pieces began to fit themselves together, "I saw you two at that Christmas party of yours. Were the two of you together in this? Were you – I mean _are_ you together?"

"No. We had something going on but not anymore. I'm telling you this because I want you to know that I didn't do it. But that doesn't mean that the person you did couldn't be someone you know." Astoria's head spun. Theodore had known all along. Names of other people whirled in her mind. Had Zabini known, even before dating Daphne? Had Parkinson known? _Had Draco known?_ But things had to be prioritized.

"Pansy. Did Pansy Parkinson know?" Astoria whispered. It was all she could muster through the shock. Theodore shook his head.

"Don't be stupid. If Pansy had known she would have told everyone years ago. I don't think it's Zabini either. He doesn't really like you and besides, if he knew he would've told Pansy. They're close." Astoria frowned. Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini were...close? The simple idea of the two of them together made Astoria want to gag. Disgusting.

Astoria and Theodore both turned to look as they heard two sets of feet walking towards them. The sound of Daphne's high heels was familiar enough to Astoria for her to recognize it without looking. Theodore, however, was a little confused.

"Astoria, they're saying you need to go back to Hogwarts," said Daphne with a quick look at Theodore. Theodore gave Daphne a smile which faded as soon as Graham Montague (Daphne's apparently protective boyfriend) shot him a murdering look. Theodore gave Astoria a slightly panicked glance and for the first time that day Astoria felt like laughing.

"Write to me," Astoria called as she walked away from Daphne after hugging her.

"Wait, you want me to write you or her?" asked Theodore loudly as he stood next to Daphne and Graham by the door of Michael Greengrass' room. Astoria turned to look back at them before going down the stairs.

"All of you!" she called happily. She knew that even though far from admitting it, Daphne was worried about her.

"Will do!" Graham shouted after her. Astoria's laugh echoed in the hall for a moment after she left. Daphne turned to give both Theodore and Graham a small smile before realising that she'd been left alone with her current and ex-boyfriend and her father.

* * *

Astoria's arrival surprised Slughorn who stuttered something about not noticing the time. Astoria frowned as it wasn't even six o'clock yet, but she played along with the older wizard's opinions and agreed with him, saying that she too had had no idea of the time.

With every step she took towards the dungeons, Astoria prepared herself for what was coming. She needed to talk to John. She was beginning to realize that the idea of John leaving her didn't bother her as much as it should have. Was this the opportunity she and Grace had talked about? She'd never planned on being with John for this long and she certainly had no intention of ever marrying him but the idea of breaking his heart still felt wrong.

And what was to be done with Emma? She'd turned her back on Astoria, that much was for sure. Astoria thought that by now she would have had some idea of Emma's motives, but no. The only thing she could come up with was Emma being in love with John but that made no sense. Not after what Theodore had said. If Theodore was the one Emma was interested in, why sabotage Astoria's relationship with John? Astoria realized that, of course, she wasn't being really honest with herself. The only reason she'd agreed to go out with John in the first place was because she'd hoped that it would make Draco come to his senses. Merlin, had that plan been unsuccesful.

All this had raced through Astoria's mind before she'd even reached the door to the common room. Astoria stood in front of the stone wall for a while, thinking. She was forced to stop when the passage leading to the common room opened and a few third years stepped out. At least Astoria thought they were third years. They stopped too when they saw Astoria and the whole group, the third years and Astoria, just stood there for a moment. There were five of the kids, two of them were staring at Astoria with wide eyes and the other three looked a little frightened. Just as the kids were about to leave, Astoria surprised them even more.

"Did you see John Avery in there?" she asked. One of third years, a girl with light hair and a very impressive (and faked) calm look on her face stepped forward.

"Yeah, he was talking to Travers, I think," she said. Astoria gave the girl a little smile, surprised that the girl immediately knew who Astoria had been talking about.

"Thank you," said Astoria as she continued through the passage. The third years stayed put on the other side for a little while, staring after Astoria until the passage closed.

"Was that Astoria Greengrass?" one of them asked in disbelief. The others nodded.

Astoria saw John as soon as she entered. He was indeed talking to Emma. Emma saw Astoria first and she nearly jumped away from John. So maybe the theory of John and Emma wasn't so crazy after all. It made Astoria a little angry but she took a deep breath and walked over.

"John we need to talk," she said. John glanced at Emma before looking at her.

"I don't understand what's happening. Was it – Was it true?" John asked. Astoria looked at Emma.

"Leave," she demanded. Emma didn't seem to think twice about it. Astoria stared after her for a moment. Then, virtually out of nowhere, Grace appeared in Emma's way and pulled her down to sit on a couch. Grace shot Astoria a mischievous look. Astoria turned back to John.

"It's true," Astoria admitted as soon as she sat down on to the chair Emma had been sitting on, "Everything you've heard about my grandmother is probably true." John looked confused but confusion soon turned to outrage.

"So you've been lying to me? This entire time?" he asked. Astoria shook her head.

"No. It just never came up. You never asked and I figured you didn't care," Astoria replied. John shook his head in disbelief.

"Seriously!? You figured I didn't care? Do you not know who I'm related to? My uncle is a Death Eater." John was speaking quietly but Astoria knew most of the common room was watching. Her anger boiled and she snapped.

"Fine. Let's break up then. It'll be easier won't it?" John looked surprised. There was no reason for John to pull the Death Eater card. Theodore's father was a Death Eater and yet Theodore had not hated Astoria because of her grandmother. _And,_ Astoria thought, _you have to be pretty far out of line if you made Theodore Nott look good._

"What?" he whispered, no longer sounding angry. Astoria took a shaky breath. John's eyes looked so sincere and Astoria felt like some sort of criminal. She remembered talking to Grace about breaking up with John. She remembered thinking about the way she felt about Draco and comparing it to the way she felt about John. That all seemed kind of unfair now.

"We both know this isn't really working. It hasn't worked in a while. Besides, the reason this whole thing got out is because darling Travers over there," Astoria gave Emma a little wave, "wants to be with you. Pretty badly it appears." John looked from Emma and Grace who were still siting on one of the black couches to Astoria right next to him.

"You think I'm interested in Emma?"

"I think you're interested in finding a pureblood girlfriend and that's obviously not me," Astoria said calmly. She had a vague feeling that she was smiling but the world around her was spinning so badly she didn't care. Had she done it? She'd broken up with her boyfriend for...what? A chance to get together with Draco? No. Astoria decied that that would have to stop. That wasn't the reason she'd broken up with John. She knew the reason and so should John.

"And I need people around me that I can trust. And I trusted you! But then you went all crazy about this blood purity thing and I thought...I thought that you were one of the few people who wouldn't care. You were the only person who wasn't supposed to care. If this was meant to be, you wouldn't care. And yet you do," Astoria kept a small pause, "and that's why we can't be together."

John looked at her in disbelief again. He hadn't been expecting this. John glanced around the common room, noticing more than a few pairs of eyes staring at him. It seemed that at least some of them had heard what Astoria had said.

"Fine," John said as he leaned back in his chair. He still wore an incredulous look on his face. He didn't seem to know what was going on. Soon his eyes narrowed and he gave Astoria a curious look.

"So Emma fancies me, huh?" he said. Under normal circumstances Astoria would've been outraged that John was asking her about other girls literally seconds after they broke up. But then it crossed Astoria's mind that perhaps John had been – quite like her – aware that their relationship wasn't working. Had he known that she hadn't been really serious about him? The thought made Astoria's stomach turn around.

"I guess. And she's a pureblood," Astoria said. John gave her another look.

"You sure?" he asked. Astoria raised her eyebrows at him. His eyes widened immediately as he realized his mistake. "I mean, okay. Okay. She's a pureblood. That's good. Not that you...I mean..."

An awkward silence fell over the two. Thankfully Grace saved her from the situation by turning up and looking at John expectantly.

"I'll go now," John said, "But even though things didn't work well, Astoria, we should be acquaintances." Astoria nodded, even though she didn't completely understand why John wanted anything to do with her. She also noted how John used the word ' acquaintances' instead of 'friends'.

"That's interesting. What do you think he wants?" Grace asked as she flopped down to the armchair John had previously occupied. Astoria shook her head. She really had no idea.

"Oh well, who cares. But you'll be very interested in knowing what Emma had to say," said Emma. She was clearly proud of herself and that pride almost radiated off her. She'd never looked more like a Slytherin on top of the situation.

"Well?"

"She says that she received a letter a few days ago. Someone really wanted everyone to know." Astoria wasn't surprised. This only confirmed her earlier suspicions.

"And," Grace continued with a smile, "guess who convinced her to give you the letter? The only problem is that she refused to give it to me. She says she wants to talk to you." Astoria smiled. Her faith in Slytherins had crashed after finding out what Emma did, but Grace was doing a fine job building it back up.

Astoria got up from her seat and straightened her blouse. As if she needed another difficult conversation with another difficult Slytherin. But she needed that letter. She needed a little peace in her life and that letter was more or less the only key to that peace. If she only found out who had sent her that letter she could get over this entire ordeal. But as Astoria walked to Emma an uncomfortable thought settled in her mind: _what if she knew the person who sent the letter to Emma?_

* * *

Draco had never been so uncomfortable in the company of his mother before. Well, perhaps excluding the times when the Dark Lord had occupied their house. But in a way, this was worse. Once again, Draco had found himself summoned to Malfoy Manor without knowing the real reason. His mother had insisted that they should have tea together which in itself wasn't odd at all. It was reasonable that a mother wanted to have tea from time to time with her adult son but the way she was staring at Draco was far from reasonable.

Draco had been sitting in the room that served as a small library for almost an hour. It wasn't quite as grand as the library at Nott manor, but everyone knew how obsessed Theodore was with books so that was hardly a surprise. The fireplace in the library room kept Draco and his mother warm as they sat drinking their tea in silence. Draco noticed that whenever he turned to look at the flames his mother would stare at him with an unreadable look on her face.

"How've you been?" Narcissa finally asked. Draco frowned a little. Hadn't she seen him just a few days ago?

"Fine, thank you," replied Draco, "What about you?" Narcissa smiled at her son. She was pleased that he had not forgotten his manners even though she supposed he hardly needed them anymore.

"I've been quite well. Your father and I have decided to go through the books in this room and figure out which ones we still need and which ones we don't." Draco nodded. His father sorting books? It was about as ridiculous as imaginary scenarios could be. Surely his mother was lying. Yet there was a small hint of fondness in Narcissa's voice, one that Draco knew was reserved for the times when she spoke of doing something she enjoyed with her husband. Draco grimaced at the thought and set down his cup of tea.

"That sounds wonderful," he lied, "Have you any other plans?" He was hoping she would tell him why she summoned him to the manor in the first place. He was also interested in finding out where his father was since he'd seen no sign of dear old Lucius when entering the house. His father usually came to at least greet him at the door.

"No. How about you?" Narcissa asked. Draco shook his head and frowned at the look of disappointment on his mother's face.

"No," Draco said carefully.

"I talked with Michael Greengrass at the dinner party," Narcissa suddenly said. Draco's eyebrows rose to impossible heights as he processed the sentence. He took his tea cup from the table to keep his hands busy. Were his hands shaking? No, of course not. Malfoys never showed such signs of nervousness.

"We talked about our children. He seemed rather convinced you knew his daughters. Both of them. And yet I never remember you mentioning anyone but Daphne," Narcissa looked at Draco and finally Draco understood. His mother knew something.

_**Thank you for reading. Take the time to tell me what you thought. And don't worry, the next chapter will include a more than fair amount of Draco.**_


	7. The Writer's Mark

**_AN:_**I know I've said a million times that I'll try to keep up my schedule, and try to update every month. Evidently I'm not very good at keeping up with schedules. Again I really want to thank everyone who left a review, I hope you all know that I love hearing what you think, no matter what it is that you think of my writing.

I hope this chapter answers to at least a few of your expectations. I tried to show a little of almost everyone in this chapter as it is, in a way, my way of wishing happy holidays to everyone. I really can't reveal anything about the chapter itself without ruining it, so here you go! Chapter 7!

Oh and for all of you who wonder, the chapter is a poor reference to the fact that everyone tries to find out who sent the letter. I apologize, my imagination was running low.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

_His mother knew something._

But Draco wouldn't give up this easily. There was no need to reveal his relationship with Astoria to his mother. His mother would overreact, one way or another. Lucius would certainly be against his son having anything to do with the daughter of Michael and Eirene Greengrass. Their blood wasn't pure enough for Lucius, Draco knew that.

"Well," Draco said, "there's not much to say about Astoria, the younger sister. She's a little over a year younger than me. She's in Slytherin. That's all I know about her." Narcissa frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I was never really friends with Daphne much less her younger sister. Besides, she was – still is, I suppose – a bit of an odd bird, shall we say. She's not like other Slytherins. At least if you believe what Theodore says."

"And is Theodore Nott involved with her?" Narcissa asked innocently. White hot rage coursed through Draco's body at the thought.

"No," he said a little too sharply. He could see his mother noticing it. He cursed himself in his mind. He had to come up with a distraction. Something to keep his mother's mind off of Astoria.

"I'm sure she's lovely," Narcissa said carefully. There was an edge to her voice that Draco didn't like. He could already sense a 'but' coming. But it never did. For some obscure reason Narcissa left it at that. Draco couldn't understand why.

"Mother, what..."

"Michael and your father used to know each other. They weren't friends, but they were acquaintances. Michael was never that interested in blood purity, not as much as he should have. But I think he did a fine job pretending. I suppose some people still believe that he became a Death Eater." Narcissa stared in to the distance as Draco's mind whirled. Astoria's father wasn't a Death Eater? He didn't know if that or the fact that his father knew Mr. Greengrass was more surprising.

"You must have kept in touch since he was at that dinner party," Draco said. He didn't want to be too obvious but he was desperate to know more.

"No, we didn't. After the first war Michael more or less disappeared from the pureblood circles. As far as I know that dinner party was the first he'd attended in years. He looked a little lost," Narcissa sounded amused. Sometimes Draco wondered if he was as cold as his parents. Michael Greengrass had, after all, lost his wife and had had to raise his daughters on his own. Draco felt a surprising amount of sympathy towards the eldest Greengrass. The bloke couldn't have had an easy life.

"Mother, was there a reason you asked me to come here?" asked Draco. He wanted his mother to get to the point if there was one. This obviously hadn't been about Astoria since his mother had disregarded the subject of her so easily.

"I just want to know how you are doing. You're my son and I worry sometimes." There was an affectionate smile on Narcissa's face that almost hid the calculating look in her eyes. Almost. Draco knew his mother and in that moment he realised that there was something his mother wasn't telling him.

* * *

Astoria stared at the letter Emma had given her. It hadn't taken a lot to get Emma to give the letter to her. Emma had made all sorts of excuses, ranging from wanting Astoria to be happy to saying that Astoria had been lying to everyone which was (according to Emma) disrespectful. And then Emma, perhaps sensing that Astoria already knew, confessed that she had indeed also been interested in John. It took every ounce of Astoria's self-control not to hit the younger Slytherin with a spell or the nearest object but when Emma finally handed her the letter all other thoughts vanished from Astoria's head. The letter was a disappointment. Astoria had no idea who could have written it. The handwriting was delicate and careful but there wasn't much of it. The letter consisted of a hand-drawn Greengrass family tree. An arrow was pointed at Dione and at the other end was a text that read 'half-blood'. Very subtle.

Astoria stared at it in disbelief.

"This is it?" she asked, "You told everyone that my grandmother was a half-blood based on some letter that doesn't even have the name of the person who sent it. Do you consider this a reliable source of information?" The last question was aimed at Grace who looked at the letter incredulously. Grace shook her head.

"Not really. How do we know you didn't write this yourself?" Astoria frowned a little. Why hadn't she thought to ask that herself?

"Because I still have the envelope," Emma said. Astoria and Grace exchanged a glance before looking at Emma expectantly. Emma did a little nod and almost ran towards the dormitories.

"Is this too easy?" Astoria asked. Grace nodded.

"Whoever sent this must've been pretty confident that we wouldn't recognize the handwriting," she said. Emma returned a minute later with the envelope. It offered no significant clues. Astoria could see that the person who wrote Emma's name on to the envelope had also written the letter but that was it. There was nothing more to do. She couldn't say who'd sent it. But thank goodness she had friends who could.

The next morning, right after breakfast, Astoria put the letter and the envelope together in to an even bigger envelope and wrote a note.

_I have no idea who sent this to Emma so I put my faith in you. Besides, it's not as if you would ever have something better to do than to help your best friend._

_Sincerely,_

_Astoria G._

She wrote the name on to the envelope and gave it to her owl Gwen.

"We're going to find out who told everyone. Theodore will find it out for us, won't he?" Her owl did not reply.

* * *

Gwen was waiting in Theodore's kitchen when he went to get breakfast. He stared at the little owl for a while, as if he was trying to figure out if he should throw something at it, before he noticed the letter on the table. He opened it and read Astoria's note. It was typical really. Why couldn't people ever solve their own problems? But Theodore could understand why Astoria was upset even though it wasn't exactly news that her blood wasn't the purest. Theodore would have been outraged too if someone had gone behind his back and told people things about his family. The only difference was that his family's secrets were never this small. Things only took a turn for the worse when Theodore looked at the letter that had been sent to Emma. He didn't know the writer either. But he could have sworn that he'd seen that writing somewhere before. On an invite or some other letter he'd received. At least that narrowed it down. The person they were looking for was a pureblood.

* * *

Draco was determined to find out what his mother wasn't telling him. So determined that he voluntarily went to Malfoy manor to help his parents sort out the books his mother had mentioned. It was a tedious job and Draco could see that his father hated it too. Lucius hadn't said a word to Draco after his initial 'hello'. Draco had expected nothing more but knowing that the father he had looked up to for so long didn't have anything to say to his own son hurt a little.

Draco's thoughts drifted to Mr. Greengrass who, it seemed, had once known Draco's own parents and perhaps even liked them. Draco nearly smiled as he compared his father to Mr. Greengrass. After the war, Draco's father had drawn away from his wife and son while Mr. Greengrass had grown a sudden interest in his younger daughter's life. Draco knew it was stupid but he felt glad that Mr. Greengrass had realised that Astoria was worth all the attention in the world. _What on earth are you thinking? _Draco chastised himself. He hadn't seen Astoria in a while. He hadn't sent her letters. He had no right to think of her that way. He had no right to think of her at all.

Draco's thoughts were brought to an end by an owl tapping its beak furiously against the library window. Lucius was outraged and tried to get the owl to leave but Draco rushed to the window, recognizing Theodore's owl. Theodore had sent him a letter, asking to meet him at Draco's apartment later that day for something important. In the past few months Draco hadn't seen much of Theodore. Rumours said that Theodore had left the country for a three week holiday in Belgium but Draco had trouble believing that. People like Theodore didn't just go on holidays. They had reasons and motives. In Theodore's absence Draco had found himself having a drink with Blaise Zabini which was at least as odd as Theodore going to Belgium. Draco had felt slightly disgusted after hearing that Blaise and Pansy were involved but he'd told Blaise good luck, because he was going to need lots of it to survive someone like Parkinson. Blaise had, to Draco's surprise, made no questions about Astoria. He'd only inquired if Draco knew how Astoria's sister Daphne was doing. Draco had to admit that Blaise had to be either a fool or a genius to even ask of news about his ex-girlfriend while in a relationship with Pansy Parkinson. Maybe the poor bloke had already had enough of Pansy.

Draco turned the letter over in his hands as contemplated on what might be so important that Theodore needed to meet him in person and this urgently. The thought of Astoria flashed across Draco's mind but he pushed it away, very aware that the chances of this being about Astoria were small.

"I heard you were talking about Michael Greengrass yesterday. Has he done something?" Lucius suddenly asked. Draco jumped a little in surprise. Surely his father wasn't able to read minds?

"No, although I heard that he was attacked at St. Mungo's yesterday. They even called his younger daughter from Hogwarts to visit him," Narcissa said. She glanced at Draco at the mention of Astoria but Draco only raised an eyebrow as if he had never known of the girl's existence.

"His younger daughter? How many daughters does Greengrass have?" Lucius asked. Draco couldn't believe what was happening. Were his parents working on this together?

"Two," Draco answered with an irritated tone. Lucius cast him a curious look but soon turned back to examine one of the books.

* * *

Astoria couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was staring at her. Surprisingly enough, she was right. Almost every time she turned around, some little girl or boy would turn the other way but not before Astoria saw their cheeks getting redder as they blushed. It was horrible. Grace was getting her fair share of it too. People actually gaped at her sometimes. Although, Astoria noticed, the people gaping were mostly boys. Which wasn't that surprising when you took Grace's looks in to consideration.

"You know," Grace said as they retired to the dormitories early, "I have this feeling that people are looking at us." Grace's voice was laced with so much sarcasm that Astoria grinned.

"I know. It's almost as if something had happened," she said, her smile fading a little. Grace shrugged.

"People have broken up with their boyfriends before, you know. Not everyone marries their first real boyfriend," she said. Astoria gave Grace a half-hearted glare. She was too tired to talk about John or any other boy for that matter.

Grace was about to say something, her mouth was already open but she shut it as they entered the dormitory and noticed that they weren't alone. Apparently it wasn't that early after all.

"Hey Jen," Grace greeted the blonde girl who sat on her bed, opposite to where Astoria's bed was. Astoria had a faint recollection of hearing the name Jen and it being associated with this blonde stranger but she couldn't place the memory. It was a little embarrassing since Jen had been there from the very first day Astoria entered Hogwarts. _But,_ Astoria reminded herself, _she'd hardly known anyone in her dormitory before the past few years._

"Hey," Jen answered. Her gaze lingered on Astoria long enough to make Astoria a little uncomfortable before turning back to Grace, "How's your day been?"

"Oh, quite well thanks," Grace said and Astoria marveled at the politeness between the girls. It wasn't very Slytherin of them.

"And you?" Astoria was so deep in her thoughts that she nearly missed Jen's question so instead of answering with a 'fine thank you' she said something extremely witty like,

"I – eh – what – I – yes?"

Grace snorted and turned to Jen: "She's had a rough day. Broke up with her boyfriend, the poor thing." Jen turned to look at Astoria.

"I heard about that. Why'd you do it? I thought John was in love with you?" Astoria didn't want to tell Jen that that didn't matter. John could have been in love with her, but if she wasn't in love with him, she had no obligations to keep him around.

"Problems. You know, I think we just started dating at such a difficult time and now that the war is over and everything's okay, the spell's gone. So to speak," Astoria lied. She and John had started dating briefly after the war, that was true. But it had never been about the war really. She could still remember walking to Diagon Alley for her first date with John and turning to glance at every blond man just in case it was Draco. She'd later realised of course that Draco had probably had much more important things to do, such as standing in front of the entire Wizengamont on trial.

How they had gone from their first date in a cafe to writing to each other all the time, Astoria had no idea. And now that she recalled all those early memories, she felt a little unhappy. Perhaps there had been something there after all. But as Jen suggested that all girls from their dormitory should go together to Hogsmeade when they had the chance, Astoria realised that it wasn't unnatural to be sad after leaving your boyfriend. She ought to be sorry for that.

* * *

Draco spent hours at the manor with his parents without finding out anything. His mother said nothing more of Michael Greengrass or his daughters and neither did Lucius. Draco was sure that his mother had figured out what he was trying. After all, she was his mother and knew him better than anyone. _Almost better than anyone,_ Draco thought to himself as he let out a deep breath and rested on the couch of his flat. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable couch but Draco didn't want to risk falling asleep on his ever so comfortable bed when Theodore might be behind the door any second. Sure enough, as Draco felt his eyes closing and his mind drifting towards sleep, a knock sounded from the door. Draco almost smiled. Almost.

He was too cautious to let Theodore in without answering some questions but as usual, Theodore knew every answer. When Draco opened the door he found Theodore smiling an oddly happy and an extremely out of character smile. The shock must have been evident on his face because soon Theodore laughed at him. This didn't do much to dissolve the shock but Draco let Theodore in.

"Tea? I'm afraid I'm not going to offer you any alcohol since I'm not sure of your mental stability," Draco offered. Theodore nodded. The smile still hadn't left his face.

"What is wrong with you?" Draco asked. The smile was beginning to disturb him, especially when Theodore's smile only grew after his question.

"It's funny, Astoria asked the same." The words had the effect Theodore had been hoping for: Draco's head snapped towards him and his eyes flew open.

"Well that's an interesting reaction," Theodore noted before launching in to the story of how Daphne had told him of her father's accident and how Astoria had confided in him. Theodore was very much aware that Astoria hadn't really given him permission to spread the story but whether Astoria liked it or not, Draco was needed for this. And Theodore did understand that as a bonus, it could bring Astoria and Draco back together.

After Theodore was done Draco stared at him for a good while. To others it may have seemed as if Draco hadn't understood a word Theodore had said but Theodore was good at reading people and therefore knew that that wasn't true. He could see Draco thinking and for a moment he thought he saw the same boy he'd gone to Hogwarts with, the one whose father hadn't been sent to Azkaban yet, the one who hadn't got the Dark Mark. But the look on Draco's face was gone quickly and it was replaced by a sneer.

"Why should I care? Didn't everyone already know that her blood wasn't pure?" Draco said. Theodore merely raised his eyebrows. Draco was being more annoying than usual.

"Sure. That's true. But I just wanted to know if you were the one who sent the letter," he said. Draco looked appalled.

"YOU THINK THAT I - " Draco held a frightening resemblance to his father when he yelled but his appearance turned back to normal as he calmed, "You think that I would do that? That's pathetic Theodore. No one would be that obvious." Theodore gave Draco a moment to calm down before correcting him.

"Well it's not that obvious, is it? We have no idea who sent the letter. But I think it's someone pureblood, someone we know. And as much as I hate to think of it, I wanted to ask you if you have any letters sent by Daphne or Michael Greengrass?"

"You think Astoria's family would turn on her like that?" Theodore shrugged.

"Wouldn't be the first time, would it?" he said. Draco nodded and glanced towards his bedroom.

"I don't have any letters from Daphne but I do still have that one from Michael Greengrass," said Draco and started towards his bedroom. Theodore rolled his eyes and got up to get himself some tea. He took his wand from his pocket to float the tea pot off the stove and as he raised his hand, it brushed against a piece of parchment. He pushed it aside and guided the tea pot safely to the table before giving the piece of parchment a quick look and turning back to look at the pot. He turned back to the parchment so quickly that the metallic tea pot nearly tumbled off the table. The writing on it was familiar. Too familiar. Theodore retrieved the letter that had been sent to Emma from his pocket and placed it next to the letter on Draco's table.

Everything matched. The soft curve of the letters were identical. Theodore's breath nearly got caught in his throat as he took the folded piece of parchment from the table and opened it to see who had sent it. It was like someone would have dropped a block of ice to the bottom of his stomach. This couldn't be. Surely there was a mistake. Yet, it was somehow absurd enough that Theodore knew he couldn't be imagining it.

"What is it?" Draco asked as he exited his bedroom and saw Theodore staring at the two letters. Draco had the letters sent by Michael Greengrass in his hand but he placed them to the small table right next to the bedroom door before approaching the kitchen area.

"Theodore?" he asked. Theodore looked up from the letters and for the first time in years Draco had the feeling that something had rendered Theodore speechless. Draco frowned and approached Theodore who handed him one of the two letters. Draco hadn't seen this one before and as he looked at the hand-drawn family tree he was about to say how ridiculous the letter was. That was before he took a closer look at the names. There was something familiar about them. Not the names themselves, of course, but the way they were written. The handwriting.

Draco sat down on to the same chair Theodore had occupied only a moment ago and sighed.

"This has got to be a joke," he said mostly to himself. He didn't look up to see Theodore's face as Theodore handed Draco the other letter. Draco looked over it and nodded. There was no mistaking it. The handwriting was the same. And as Draco read through the letter, all the way to his mother's signature at the bottom he understood his mother's sudden interest in Astoria. Narcissa hadn't only just found out. She'd known about Astoria all along. And for some, unnatural, obscure reason Narcissa had sent the letter with Astoria's family tree to Emma Travers.

_**Thank you for reading and happy holidays! There will be a small jump between this and the next chapter. The next chapter will take place at least a few months after this one and we get to see everyone's reactions. Tell me what you thought by reviewing.**_


	8. The Setting of the Board

_**AN: **_This chapter is (again) somewhat of a pointless chapter. In the next one we'll leaping a little (again) to the end of summer but I thought it would be useful to show the beginning as well. I hope you all enjoy this even though it's shorter than the ones before ( I promise the next one will be longer ) and a little late.

Disclaimer: I don't (unfortunately) own Harry Potter

* * *

This was it then. It was over. Astoria stood watching the train that would take her away from Hogwarts, this time for good. There would be no coming back unless she (and it was very unlikely) returned one day as a professor. Astoria had cast her last glances towards the castle that had been the home of many memories and said her final goodbyes to it. She was sad, true, but she was also excited. It was over. She wasn't a student anymore. Soon she would be able to start her training and become a healer. It felt like the time couldn't come soon enough.

"Hey, you're gonna miss the train if you just stand there staring at it," a Ravenclaw boy told her as he walked by. Astoria scoffed at the boy but noted that he was right. It was silly to feel sorry for leaving Hogwarts. After all, it was also a place where people had died not that long ago.

It was easy to recognize the 7th year students who were leaving Hogwarts for the last time because they were all acting more or less like Astoria. A few Gryffindors looked a little teary eyed while some Slytherins and Ravenclaws were doing their best to keep their voices normal and stopping themselves from sobbing. Astoria could understand what they were feeling but she'd passed in to a sort of numbness that prevented her from acting the same. She had a feeling that the reality of the situation wouldn't come to her for a few days but that when it did, it would hurt.

As usual, most of the compartments were full. Astoria and Grace shared an amused glance as they followed a pair of younger Slytherins on their way to find a compartment. One of them, a first year girl Astoria assumed, was carrying books that were bigger than her head. Soon the inevitable happened and the girl stumbled, sending her books and notebooks flying all over the floor. The girl she'd been walking with didn't seem to notice and just kept going.

"You wouldn't do that to me, right?" Grace asked beside Astoria with a smile. Astoria shook her head with a laugh and a 'probably not' before picking up the girl's books and handing them to her.

"Be careful with those. You might hurt yourself," said Astoria. The girl stared at her with wide eyes and mumbled something Astoria couldn't understand.

"Besides," said Grace to the girl, "school's over. Don't worry about books, go have fun." Astoria glared at Grace who shrugged as if to say ' I don't know'.

"Books are good. But perhaps some lighter volumes next time, eh?" Astoria smiled brightly at the girl who nodded vigorously, almost dropping one of her books. The girl looked hesitantly at Grace and then at Astoria, waiting for them to perhaps say something more but when they didn't she went after her friend.

"We should've told her to try and levitate the books," Grace said after the girl had gone.

"And now you say it?" Astoria replied with humour before noticing that they were being stared at. It seemed that the girl had dropped her books in front of a compartment full of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who were now staring at them with open mouths. Astoria rolled her eyes at them before dragging Grace after her to find a compartment of their own.

"So when Gryffindors help someone it's obvious and no one's bothered, but when a Slytherin helps someone? Gods forbid it mustn't be true!" Grace declared silently once they'd found a place to sit. Astoria gave her a small smile before staring out on to the platform. Theodore's letter still bothered her.

A few months back, perhaps a fortnight after she'd sent Theodore the letter including the little piece that someone had sent Emma, Theodore had replied her. His response had been a simple, "Narcissa Malfoy. I have proof." Astoria had burnt the letter immediately (as instructed by Grace) and thought no more of it. She knew now but what was she going to do with that information? What could she do with that information? She could understand Narcissa's motives and she had no desire to take vengeance against Draco's mother. Draco. Oh how her mind had been plagued by him. Grace had tried to disract her by pointing out several more-or-less good-looking Slytherins, but Astoria was too tired afer the whole business with John to even consider anything new. Besides, the last months had been a countdown. A countdown of days until she would return home and see Daphne and Theodore and possibly even Draco.

The sound of the compartment door opening startled Astoria and she whipped her head to the direction of the door. Her shoulder-length hair didn't get in the way like the long hair she used to have had done and she was able to see Jen. Jen hadn't exactly become a friend of Astoria's but they'd sometimes eaten together in the Great Hall and exhanged a simple hello in the corridors. Astoria had noticed Grace taking a liking to Jen though, which was why she never complained when Jen was around. Astoria had an understanding that Grace and Jen had been friends before Grace had become friends with Astoria. Apparently, Grace's friendship with Astoria had somewhat destroyed the one she'd had with Jen.

"So where are you going when we get to London?" Grace asked about ten minutes after Jen had come to sit with them.

"Home, I guess. And then tomorrow to the cottage with Daphne. Where else would I go?" Astoria knew the letter sentence to be a mistake the second she saw the wild, manic smile spread on to Grace's face.

"Oh I don't know," said Grace, "Where indeed?" Jen looked confused but Astoria found no desire in herself to tell Jen about the obsession Grace had formed after finding out that Narcissa Malfoy had sent the letter. Grace was convinced that Astoria ought to take revenge by at least forming a good friendship with Draco but Astoria was doubtful. How would it help anyone if she were friends (or more) with Draco? His mother would hate her. His father wouldn't approve and Draco himself seemed further away from her than ever. It was with a heavy heart that Astoria realised she hadn't spoken to Draco in nearly six months.

* * *

Draco was in a similar state of mind. He'd been staring at the clock on his bedroom wall since 11 as if it would somehow tell him where Astoria was or what she was doing. He felt odd about the whole situation. To be honest, he hadn't spent much time thinking about Astoria after they'd found out Narcissa had sent the letter. In fact, he'd strived to completely wipe her from his mind by spending time with his parents who were still a little annoying but becoming more bearable as they finally accepted their current situation. Draco hadn't told his mother that he knew that it was she who had sent the offending letter to Emma and thus attempted to destroy...well, Draco wasn't exactly sure what Narcissa had been trying to destroy.

But now, just this morning, every memory he had of Astoria had come rushing back to his mind like a wave of unwanted feelings. He found himself thinking about such silly things as her smiles and even the way she raised her eyebrows when he said something she detested. The memories made his head spin, his chest feel tighter and he disliked that just as he disliked every other reaction his body had to the memory of Astoria. Draco had also realised that he had indeed somewhat succeeded in forgetting Astoria. His memories of the exact colour of her hair were fading and he could no longer remember if it was a more warm or cold kind of brown. Her strikingly blue eyes seemed hazy in his mind. Whether they were the colour an ocean somewhere far away or the colour of the Ravenclaw house's blue, he couldn't remember and that terrified him. Why? He had no idea. Or if he did, he refused to consider it (it being his unexisting romantic feelings towards Astoria) a possibility.

Draco shifted his gaze from the clock to the bookshelf that stood on he wall opposite to his bed. There, in the far right corner, was the book that Astoria had given him for Christmas. He hadn't read it much in fear that that would only strengthen his feelings for that unattainable, younger Slytherin girl. But was she unattainable? Theodore had told him a very interesting piece of information that Theodore had pparently received via letter from Grace. Draco had, of course, made a few mandatory jokes about Theodore and Grace keeping in touch after which Theodore had replied with a few hurtful comments of his own. But then he'd proceeded to tell Draco that Astoria had left John. Or John had left Astoria. Either way was fine with Draco. If John was truly out of the picture that could mean that he still had a chance. Not that he needed a chance with someone like Astoria. Of course not. It would just be interesting to see if Astoria was still the same. If she still wanted him at all.

* * *

The breeze threw Astoria's short hair against her face. The rain had already soaked her hair so it stuck to her face and eyes in a most uncomfortable way. Daphne was practically glowing with excitement. Why Astoria had promised to spend an entire weekend with Daphne, alone in their grandmother's old house, the cottage, she couldn't exactly remember. It had certainly been an impressive victory for Daphne who had done everything in her power to get her sister to agree that the idea was brilliant.

"Why is it that we're here, again?" Astoria asked after she'd thrown her bag to the room that she had began to call her own. Daphne, who emerged from her own room which had once belonged to their grandmother, gave her a bright smile.

"Well, you're finally out of Hogwarts and that ought to be celebrated."

"By spending a weekend alone? Here? In the rain?"

"It doesn't rain inside, does it?" Daphne asked. Astoria was startled by how much Daphne's voice reminded her of her mother. Daphne had grown, Astoria could see that now. She hadn't grown taller, no, but she'd grown as a person. Two years ago, Daphne would have stood out in the cold rain rather than spend a minute with Astoria. But now as Astoria watched Daphne taking out candles from a drawer and placing them on the table before the fireplace, she realised that at some point, for some reason, Daphne had begun to care.

"So I heard you left John," Daphne said casually. Astoria couldn't help the smile that spread on her lips. Of course Daphne wanted all the gossip.

"Yes, I did. It had to be done," said Astoria. The fireplace reminded her of the time she, John, Daphne, Theodore, Emma and Grace had come to the cottage after escaping Hogwarts. It was then that John had asked her out and she'd said yes, despite knowing that she still harboured feelings for Draco. The memory made her blush.

"You must be pretty disappointed," Astoria observed in order to forget the memories that had invaded her mind, "You nearly had a dress for my wedding and everything." An odd smile passed across Daphne's face. It was a secret one, one that almost screamed of her knowing something Astoria didn't.

"What?" Astoria asked.

"Nothing," was what Daphne replied, "I'm not disappointed. I understand why you did it." Now Astoria was officially confused. What in the name of Merlin's purple pants was Daphne talking about?

"I think I've come to understand a lot of your motives actually."

"Really?" Astoria's voice sounded a little nervous as she followed Daphne to the kitchen. The kitchen window had a nice view of the little path that led to the door and beyond that, the meadow and the beach. It was very beautiful.

"Yes. Sometimes, you know, the things we want for people aren't the things they need."

"Okay?" Astoria had no idea what Daphne was talking about, beyond the sneaking suspicion that sit acually had more to do with Daphne than Astoria, "And how have you come to this conclusion?"

"Dad doesn't really like Graham." This was no surprise. Astoria found it difficult to imagine her father liking any man who wanted to date one of his daughters.

"And that," Daphne continued, "made me think about how I never really got what you were doing before getting together with John. All that stuff with Malfoy." Astoria's eyes widened in alarm.

"No, no, no, no! We're not doing this. We are _not _doing this!"

"Not doing what?"

"Bonding over boys! I don't want to talk about my...my...my..."

"Love life?" The words hung in the air for a moment before Astoria let out a quiet sound,

"Don't call it that." Daphne turned to look at her sister and it was then that Astoria realised she'd been tricked. This was the whole poit of the journey. Daphne had wanted to dig up information.

"Why? Because you're afraid to call it that?"

"No! Because it's none of your business," Astoria growled. For a moment Daphne seemed startled but she turned to face the cupboard, waved her wand and summoned two tea cups to hide it.

"I'm your sister, you know," Daphne said while making tea.

"Yes. So I've been told. I find it a little hard to believe, though," Astoria replied from her seat next to the dinner table. She couldn't understand why they had a dinner table. It wasn't as if one of them could cook. For all her talet in potion making, Astoria was worthless as a cook.

Daphne sighed and acted like Astoria hadn't said anything,

"You never told me what went on between you two. I mean, I guess it was some kind of a romance, right? But why Malfoy? What did you see in him?"

"I don't know," Astoria replied truthfully. She couldn't name any specific thing that she'd seen in Draco. She'd been attracted to him, yes, but she'd never found him exactly attractive as a person.

"Fine. I suppose I could go and ask him myself."

"No, you can't!" A winner's grin spread across Daphne's face. It made Astoria's stomach turn.

"Why? Don't you want me to talk to him?"

_No,_ Astoria thought, _No I do not want you to talk to him. _There was something unpleasant in imagining Daphne somewhere alone with Draco. Daphne, who was much like Astoria, but also much more attractive and a lot smarter and charming with her words. Daphne, who'd already had Blaise and Theodore. Daphne, who'd always taken Astoria's toys when they'd been little. _But Draco wasn't a toy_, Astoria reminded herself. That was what got Astoria to make the decision she knew her sister wasn't expecting.

"Because I had feelings for him and his mother seems to think he had feelings for me, since she made it her business to tell Emma and through her, everyone else, that our grandmother was a half-blood." There were no words to describe the shock on Daphne's face.

"She what now?" Daphne sputtered. Astoria repeated the words she'd said. Daphen kept muttering them to herself over and over again.

"Merlin!" she finally exclaimed, "Why didn't you just...I can't believe you didn't...It was that serious?!"

"I told you. I don't like talking about my...love life." Daphne's eyes looked like they were about to drop out of her head.

"So you decided that telling me or dad that Narcissa Malfoy hated your guts wasn't important?" Astoria frowned.

"I don't think she hates me. She just doesn't like the idea of her son thinking about me. Frequently." The shock and confusion on Daphne's face made Astoria's confidence soar. For once, she'd been able to deliver information Daphne hadn't been prepared for.

"Well," asked Daphne with a smirk on her face, "do you like the idea of her son thinking about you? Frequently?" The corners of Astoria's mouth twitched upward. Daphne laughed loudly and Astoria couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped her. It was as if things had gone back to normal; Daphne had got the information she wanted and Astoria was free to make fun of Daphne's relationship with Graham again. But all night Astoria's mind kept coming back to that conversation and the fact that she had, for the first time, openly admitted having feelings for Draco. It had felt good. It had also made Astoria's heart skip about seven beats and do a flip as she realised that there was a possibility, a small one but still, that she still did have some serious feelings towards a very seriously unattainable Draco Malfoy.

_**Thank you for reading. I know some of you may have wondered about the name of this chapter "The setting of the board" so I'll explain it here. It's a reference (a poor one, I know) to chapter 4, "The Pieces of the Game". Make what you will of it.**_


	9. The Queen of Predictability

_**AN:**_ Long time no see, eh? I have to say that I'm really, terribly sorry that it's taken me this long to update especially after all of those lovely reviews. I know there are no good excuses so I'll save you from them and instead present chapter 10, which continues with the chess-themed titles.

Disclaimer: I don't actually own Harry Potter or the characters

* * *

The weekend with Daphne had been fun. Weeks had passed since then and Astoria had secured her spot at St. Mungo's. She would begin her training to be a healer this Autumn. Mostly, the summer days were a blur of tea and conversations with Grace who visited frequently, shopping trips with Daphne and volunteering at St. Mungo's which was still in need of staff and resources. It was on one of those days when she was walking on Diagon Alley, after spending hours doing everything she could to help at the hospital and then visiting her mother's vault at Gringotts, that Astoria saw Draco for the first time in over six months.

She didn't recognize him at first but as he came closer, oblivious to Astoria's presence, she immediately knew it was him. His hair seemed a little thinner, which was odd, but his face had a healthy amount of colour. He was leaning against the wall near the entrance, looking around and obviously waiting for someone. Astoria had no intention of walking straight up to him. She didn't have the nerve to do that. But the closer she got to the entrance the more obvious it became that he was bound to notice her. And he did. It would have been a lie for Astoria to say that she wasn't affected by the look he gave her. It was half panic and half longing. The question of why he was looking at her like that bothered her a lot, but now that he'd made eye contact she would just have to go and talk to him. It was only a sign of good manners. Right?

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, trying to sound calm and friendly. Draco raised his eyebrows and leveled her with his usual cold gaze.

"Lovely as always, aren't you? I'm allowed to be seen outside, you know." Astoria barely had time to get offended over his words, let alone get butterflies in her stomach after he called her lovely before she noticed him staring at her hair with a look of disbelief.

"What?" she asked. The look in Draco's eyes softened momentarily and he shook his head a little.

"Nothing. You've just changed your hair. Theodore never mentioned it."

"And does Theodore talk a lot about me then?" Draco seemed to realise that he'd let that detail slip and he immediately looked elsewhere which Astoria thought was a rather childish move. Although she could have sworn that the skin right over Draco's cheekbone turned a little redder. When Draco finally turned back to Astoria, the colour was gone.

"You know Theodore. Never quiet, is he?" It was obviously meant as a joke and Astoria managed to smile even though she wondered what kind of things Theodore had been telling Draco about her.

"So do you like my new hair then?" Without even quite realising what she was doing, Astoria took a strand of her short, dark chocolate-colour hair and twirled it around her finger. Draco looked at it, mesmerized.

"It's...it's fine. Not perfect, of course, but fine," he said. Astoria smiled at him and his inability to give compliments and she saw Draco's mouth twitch towards a rather nervous smile as well.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Draco. Now it was time for Astoria to get nervous. She had been visiting her mother's vault with the goal of finding one particular book. But there were too many books in her mother's vault and bringing them home to the Greengrass house would have been too obvious and it would have made her father very suspicious.

"Just visiting a vault. Isn't that what people usually do at Gringotts? This is a bank."

"You've always been a terrible liar, Astoria." The ease with which her name rolled off his tongue surprised them both and for a moment they were left just staring at each other.

Draco was memorizing the exact colour of her eyes which reminded him of the sea. That was surprising even to himself since he'd never been that fond of the sea. It was too big and unpredictable. But Astoria was the queen of unpredictability. He also noticed other little things that he'd never noticed before, like the curve of her mouth and the way her shoulder-length hair curved a little when it touched her almost bare shoulder. These were all rather meaningless things but Draco, ever so ashamed of admitting it, could have stared at her for a long time without getting bored.

Then he remembered why he was there in the first place and tore his eyes off Astoria, ignoring her well-masked surprise. His mother was undoubtedly somewhere here already. She was never late. And as if on cue, the door opened and Narcissa Malfoy walked in. Draco turned his head a little so he was able to see the look on Astoria's face. She looked paler but nothing in her expression gave away any emotion. Draco felt strangely proud of her.

Narcissa, however, didn't manage to mask her surprise quite fast enough so Draco was able to see it. He could also understand it. He had hardly expected to meet Astoria at Gringotts or anywhere else for that matter, although he couldn't say that he wasn't happy about seeing her.

"Hello," Mrs. Malfoy said with her eyes locked on Astoria. Both Astoria and Draco held their breath, wondering whether or not Narcissa would recogize Astoria.

"Hello mother," Draco said while looking at his feet. It was the only way he could hide his smile. He couldn't exactly explain why he thought the situation was funny.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Malfoy," Astoria said. She'd felt a coldness settle upon her heart when Narcissa had walked in. Here she was. The person who'd caused her much trouble, the person who had raised Draco and had at least some part in making him a Death Eater. Astoria didn't hate Narcissa Malfoy but she wasn't a fan of hers either.

"You must be..."

"Astoria Greengrass, ma'am," Astoria gave Mrs. Malfoy a smile which Narcissa returned although it was obvious that Narcissa wasn't happy about being interrupted.

"I've heard much about you," Narcissa said. Astoria ignored her heart doing some kind of a gymnastics number in her chest and smiled.

"And I've heard much about you."

"All good things I hope?" Narcissa said while Draco looked from one woman to the other as if he was following a game of some sort. But as soon as Astoria smiled that sweet little smile of hers, Draco knew that perhaps his mother was going to be bested at her own game.

"Well, defining good is very hard these days, is it not?" said Astoria calmly. Narcissa nodded in approval and Draco could barely hold himself together and stop himself from at least chuckling.

"But I think I should go, Daphne must be waiting for me," Astoria lied. She said her goodbyes and walked out of the door, glancing at Draco one last time before stepping outside in to the rare sunshine.

"She seems...interesting." Draco saw the way his mother looked at him and it annoyed him.

"She is rather interesting once you get to know her."

"I thought you said you didn't know her?" Narcissa said, even though she knew that Draco was familiar with the Greengrass girl. How strong their hypothetical relationship was, however, was something Narcissa longed to find out. Perhaps that look on her face encouraged Draco too look her in the eye and say:

"I've said a lot of things in my life."

* * *

Daphne wasn't waiting for Astoria but Grace was. When Astoria got back home, she found Grace sitting comfortably in the sitting room with Astoria's father, talking about her knew internship at the ministry. Grace's parents were very proud and with good reason.

"Well hello there. You look like you ran in to a..." Grace's expression turned a little crazy, "a Malfoy, perhaps?" This time, Astoria decided not to fight Grace even though she had no idea how Grace always knew these things.

"Not just a Malfoy but two of them actually," she confessed. She saw her father's look of confusion and quickly explained how she had just ran in to them at Gringotts.

"And what were you doing at Gringotts?" her father asked. Astoria didn't hesitate or stutter when she said:

"I was going through the jewelry in mother's vault. There were some interesting pieces there." Michael Greengrass nodded in approval.

"Don't forget to share with your sister, Astoria, you know how much she loves jewelry."

"Sure, dad," Astoria said with a smile. Her father nodded again and then got up, telling Astoria and Grace how he needed to still check on a few patients at St. Mungo's. As soon as he'd left Grace turned to Astoria and demanded all the details of how Astoria had met the Malfoys. Astoria gave her the same jewelry story, although she was almost sure that Grace didn't buy it and then told her exactly what Draco and she had talked about.

"Intriguing. Why didn't you ask him for tea? Or more?" Astoria considered hitting Grace with something but she decided against it as violence had never been her go-to option.

"In front of his mother? I'm not an idiot," she said. Grace laughed at this and Astoria was, once again, tempted to smash a tea cup against her head. But Grace grew suddenly very serious and looked at Astoria with a contemplating edge in her eyes.

"What were you really doing in the vault?" she asked after a moment of staring had passed. Astoria froze a little and answered reluctantly:

"I was retrieving jewelry, like I said."

"But you don't have any jewelry with you," noticed Grace. Astoria hated herself for not being able to tell Grace. But she wasn't even sure what she was looking for or if she even wanted to find it, so how would it help if she told Grace. It wouldn't. At least that's what she told herself.

Astoria could still remember how she'd stepped in to that vault around four days after leaving Hogwarts for good. She remembered standing in the middle of the vault and looking at the piles of books when the question that had been bothering her for years started waking up in her again. It had been looming at the edges of her consciousness ever since she'd been called from Hogwarts to meet her father at St. Mungo's after he'd been hurt. She could remember Daphne's words as they'd hugged and how much those words had shaken her mind afterwards, in the dark hours of the night. She needed answers and she knew Daphne needed them too. She needed them more than she'd allowed herself to admit.

"I need to find something," she finally confessed, "but I don't want to bring everything from the vault here. Dad wouldn't...he wouldn't want to..." Astoria didn't know how to finish that sentence. In the end she wasn't prepared to ask her father the question she wanted answers for. It was too painful for her and she knew it would have been too painful for her father.

"Then why don't you take whatever it is to someone else's house? I'm sure darling Draco would more than glad to help," Grace said with her usual annoying grin. But Astoria had to admit that it wasn't an entirely bad idea. Taking the books to someone else was actually almost genius, even though she didn't agree with taking them to Draco. As much as she...cared, for Draco, she wasn't willing to trust this with him especially when she knew that there was always a chance of his parents finding out. But there was someone else.

"Anyway," said Astoria in an attempt to change the subject, "tell me more about that job at the ministry."

* * *

Draco couldn't understand how an armchair could feel so heavenly. He felt as if he was sinking in to it, or perhaps that was only because he'd been very tense all day with his mother. It hadn't been his idea to go to Gringotts but his mother had insisted and informed him that she didn't want to go alone but that Draco's father did not want to go at all, so Draco had had no options. Not really.

"I'm sensing that your day didn't go exactly the way you wanted it to?" mused Theodore who sat on an armchair opposite to Draco's with a mug of hot chocolate in his hand. Draco shook his head without opening his eyes. He really didn't want to talk about how he'd regretted every word he'd said to his mother. He didn't want to admit to being a coward.

Theodore was about to answer when someone knocked hard on the door. It echoed all the way to the library in which Draco and Theodore were sitting in. The boys both looked at the clock with mixed levels of confusion. It was 7 o'clock and Theodore hadn't invited anyone to his house. Only so many people even knew where his house was. Quickly, both of the boys drew out their wands and walked to the door which the house elf was already opening. Neither of them was particularly surprised when a woman behind the door knocked again and shouted:

"Oh come on, you idiot! Open the door!" Theodore smiled before asking a few questions (just to be sure) and opening the door. Astoria stood on the other side wearing a dress and a black coat. Theodore was preoccupied with the determined look on her face whereas Draco was forced to admit that he might have taken a second or two too long at staring at Astoria's legs.

"A happy surprise! Must be a first time for everything, am I right?" Theodore said before letting Astoria in from the slight rain that had begun about an hour ago.

"Yes, yes, yes. I actually have a favour to..." Astoria seemed to notice Draco there for the first time. She swallowed and brushed a bit of water off her face.

"Hi," she said quietly. Draco muttered a hello as well and Theodore rolled his eyes at his two friends who, in his mind, should have by now won numerous awards for stubbornness and idiocy. But however frustrated Theodore was with his friends, it didn't excuse him from the duties of being a good host. So he offered Astoria a selection of hot beverages and she said she'd gladly have a cup of hot chocolate.

"The things is, I actually came here with a question," Astoria admitted once the three of them were sitting comfortably in Theodore's library. Theodore furrowed his brow. It wasn't as if he hadn't expected this, but perhaps he had not expected Astoria to be so blunt about it.

"And what is it?"

"I have books in my vault at Gringotts. Books that you'd be very interested in reading but I can't take them home. So I wanted to ask you, as your friend, if as a favour to me, you'd be willing to store them here at your house? You have the room." Now Theodore was officially surprised.

"Books?" he asked.

"Yes. Free of charge of course. I'll even let you keep a few of them once I'm done with...with investigating them," said Astoria hesitantly. Theodore nodded his head.

"Seems like a reasonable deal to me. Although I have to ask: is there something in them that might get me in trouble?" Astoria thought about the dark piles of ancient-looking books and the pages that were obviously missing from some of them.

"I don't know. But I wouldn't call it impossible," she admitted. Theodore nodded again.

"Like you said," he began, "we're friends and so I'll be glad to do this for you. But would you mind telling me what you're actually looking for?"

Astoria fixed her gaze on Draco who returned it with surprising warmth. Astoria was no longer nervous about the fact that he was there as well. She remembered all the times she had actually had fun with Draco and how he'd made her feel. She even remembered Daphne's words of Draco thinking about her. So then, when Astoria finally admitted it out loud for the first time, she didn't doubt if she could trust Theodore and Draco:

"I'm going to find out what killed my mother."

_**Thank you so much for reading. Feel free to tell me what you thought!**_


	10. The First Move

_**AN: **_So months have passed since I updated and I deeply apologize for that. The truth is that I've lacked both the inspiration and time to write anything as I've had huuuuge amounts of things to do. But here I am with a new chapter that I hope will get you to forgive me for my long absence. So please enjoy and try to forgive any error in my grammar. There are many things still in store for Draco &amp; Astoria, don't you worry, but for now they seem to be having a rather nice time. For now.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter

* * *

The words "I'm going to find out what killed my mother" had barely dropped from Astoria's lips when Theodore was already striding towards the library door. He yanked the doors shut with a final glare at the hallway to which the door led before casting an enchantment that would silence the room.

Returning to his seat, he was forced to admit that he was rather jealous. There was clear fear in Astoria's eyes. A sign that his sudden dash to the door had been too unexpected. Beside Astoria Draco was glaring daggers through Theodore. Draco lounged on his chair looking relaxed but from years of experience Theodore could see the tightness in both the muscles of Draco's face and the ones of his hand. In a seemingly relaxed manner, Draco's hand was positioned slightly off the the arm of his armchair, in a way that was obviously meant to offer Astoria whatever comfort it could. The movement of his hand had been subtle and unnoticeable to the untrained eye but Theodore's eyes were everything but untrained. He could see Astoria taking a not-so-subtle glance at Draco's hand. During the fractions of a second before he sat down, Theodore was almost convinced that Astoria would reach for Draco's hand. But he sat down and Astoria did not move.

It was embarrassing to be jealous of a couple that was not even a couple. If it had been up to him, Theodore would have forced the two to stay in one room together for as long as it took for them to admit how they felt or in the least had felt about one another. The sheer stupidity of his friends' situation was almost enough to drive him mad.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Theodore finally asked. Astoria fixed him with a look filled with more confidence than he had expected. There was always something unnerving about the way Astoria looked at people. Her eyes looked too deep in to a person and more than once Theodore had feared that Astoria was able to read minds.

"My mother died in St. Mungo's after drinking a potion that, obviously, went wrong. I want to know which potion that is."

Theodore's gaze flicked to Draco who looked a little uncomfortable. He could almost hear Draco's brain putting together pieces to some puzzle Theodore didn't have the access to. Draco's wand hand twitched a little, and settled even closer to Astoria's hand. Theodore wanted to slap Draco.

"Why now?" Draco asked with a surprisingly gentle voice. It was the voice Theodore rarely heard. People didn't speak gently around him, but he suspected that the gentler voice hadn't so much to do with him as it did with Astoria.

"Now I have the key to the vault and I can finally do something. Besides, I couldn't have really done this from Hogwarts, could I?" Her voice had an amused edge but neither Theodore nor Draco so much as chuckled. Astoria's words seemed to hang in the air for more than a few moments until Theodore finally nodded. This was, perhaps, the most interesting thing he had heard in months. But he was nervous.

Astoria's eyes kept darting around the room, shifting from Draco to Theodore and then to some distant shelf somewhere. Her attempts to hide things had always been rather obvious and almost childish, Theodore thought. And this was yet another proof of that. It didn't take a wizard as smart as Merlin to notice that there was something or perhaps a lot of things Astoria wasn't telling them and that unnerved Theodore. He had already promised to let her store the books at his house but that promise could be taken back easily enough. Despite the fact that he'd never gone down a path as dark as Draco had, Theodore hadn't been spared from the effects of the war. His father was gone and he knew that his family name was all but worthless. Theodore himself was too young and obviously he had no children. So if something happened to him, something that got him in trouble with the ministry, he would be the only one to take the fall for it. And therefore he could easily lose everything.

But, Theodore contemplated as he removed the silencing charm from the door, it was a good thing that he wouldn't have to be the one to figure out what Astoria was hiding.

"You'll help me, then?" Astoria asked. For a moment Theodore did consider declining. But looking at Astoria's blue eyes that nearly sparkled with hope, he realised that right at this moment, right here in this room, was more or less what was left of his family. And Astoria was like the little sister he had never asked for. So the answer, in the end, was obvious.

"Of course."

* * *

Astoria had been mildly surprised when Theodore himself had insisted on coming to Gringotts with her. Being one of her closest friends Theodore of course had every right to come with her but even as the door of the vault was being opened, Astoria suspected. She knew for a fact that Theodore and Draco both had seen right through her on that night over a week ago. But she had been caught by surprise when she'd seen Draco and suddenly all the intricate stories she'd spun in her head to tell Theodore had vanished. She'd wanted to tell the truth but trust didn't come easily to her anymore. If Emma, a girl who had supposedly been her best friend, had gone behind her back then what could stop Theodore and Draco, both of whom were from notorious Death Eater families, from doing the same. The last thing Astoria ever wanted was for people to know what she was doing.

The heaps of books stood in strict formation on the edges of the vault. Behind her, Astoria could hear Theodore gasping a little. Whatever her thoughts on Theodore's loyalty were, the stunned look on his face made Astoria smile. Theodore did love his reading.

"So where do you think we should start?" Astoria whispered with a teasing tone. Theodore looked down at her (since he was a good foot taller) and gave her a look that caught Astoria completely off guard. There was adoration in that look and amusement but also guilt. It was hardly the look Astoria had been expecting. She looked elsewhere quickly, hoping that Theodore hadn't noticed her surprise. But of course, knowing Theodore, that hope was a very small one.

"That looks promising, don't you think?" Theodore said as he pointed at a particularly dark pile of books. Astoria nodded grimly and opened up the bag she'd brought with her. There were all sorts of charms on it so it would be able to hold more books than its appearance let on. It was hardly good for the image of herself or Theodore to come out of Gringotts carrying ancient-looking potion books that were most likely linked with all sorts of dark arts.

Theodore used his wand to carefully levitate the books one by one in to the bag. After that came the easiest part: they only had to walk out and go back to Theodore's house. But life was never that simple, was it?

They'd almost made it out when Theodore more or less literally walked in to Narcissa Malfoy. What the bloody woman was even doing there, Astoria didn't know. Narcissa's eyes went from Astoria to Theodore and finally to the space between them where Astoria realised Theodore had his hand on her shoulder. An almost cruel smile settled on the face of Draco's mother. This, Astoria knew, was something Narcissa had probably hoped to see. Astoria with any other man besides Draco. Astoria's father would doubtlessly hear from this from one source or another. The Malfoy woman might even write to him herself, Astoria thought darkly.

"Good day, miss Greengrass," Narcissa said as she moved passed them, "and mister Nott." She turned to give Astoria one last look of contempt before moving on but Astoria merely smiled at her widely and called,

"Good day to you as well, Mrs. Malfoy!"

"Well that went well," Theodore said with his voice simply dripping sarcasm once they'd reached the safety of his home. Astoria could only grunt in response; the books she was lifting from her bag were heavy. They carried the books to the library where Draco sat waiting. He had decided not to come to Gringotts because he knew people would wonder what he was doing there with the child of another known Death Eater and the daughter of a St. Mungo's employee.

"We met your mother. She seemed to be having a lovely day," Theodore informed merrily as he set down his pile of books with a loud crash. Draco only raised an eyebrow at this before his eyes shifted on to Astoria.

Astoria could have sworn that Theodore was looking at Draco and her more closely than ever before as if he was expecting some move to be made. Not that there were any moves to be made. No. Of course not. Meeting Draco's eyes Astoria was thrown back in time to a moment she had almost forgotten, the moment when Horace Slughorn had come to collect the Slytherin house from their common room. Back then Astoria hadn't known whether any of them would make it out of that castle alive. The way Draco's hand had felt around hers was something she would never be able to forget. _Is it always going to be like this? _The words echoed in her mind, a reminder of the fact that the two of them had known each other for years and yet their relationship was in many ways the same as it had been in the beginning. Was she going to spend the rest of her life in limbo, torn between hating and adoring Draco?

"Do you want me to help?" Draco asked. Astoria stared at him with surprise clear on her features. While she'd been lost in her thoughts, Theodore had disappeared somewhere, leaving her and Draco alone.

"Do I want you to help me with what?"

"The books. I know a thing or two about potions." There was a smile on his face as if they were sharing a private joke. It wasn't a smile often seen on him.

"Yes," Astoria said after a moment of consideration, "I think that would be a good idea."

"Great." Draco smiled again but somehow the smile felt unreal. But why would he fake a smile in front of her? Confused, Astoria gave Draco a wavering smile that set a frown on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Draco asked and Astoria was surprised to hear the concern in his voice. She shook her head.

"No."

It was a lie. Half of the things she said these days seemed to be lies. It sometimes pained her to think that this was the person she had become. A few years ago she'd sworn to herself that she'd never be like her sister but now she could see more and more similarities between them. In some ways, she often thought to herself, she was even worse. But her sister was not the same as she had been before either. No one was. The war had changed so much. Astoria sat down next to a small pile of books. She sighed and held her head in her hands for a moment. How did she always return to these same thoughts? And how on earth was she so tired?

"Here," Draco said. Astoria startled and stared at the mug he was offering her as if it were an alien thing she'd never seen before. Draco sighed and set down the mug next to her leg. He then glanced at the books and actually smiled a little. It was more of a tug at the right corner of his lip that he seemed to be unable to control.

"I suppose we just can't sit next to the table?" he asked. Astoria frowned and glanced to her left where she knew the table was. What she hadn't noticed was how close it was. She was sitting literally less than three feet from the table next to which the couch and armchairs were arranged. Not that far from the table was a fireplace.

"Oh," Astoria said quietly. She grabbed the mug and stood up. When Theodore re-entered the room he found Draco and Astoria standing silently in front of the pile of books.

"Which one should we start with?" Astoria asked, oblivious to Theodore's presence. She glanced at Draco and was shocked to see how dark his eyes seemed. On his face was a look that screamed he didn't want to do this.

"You don't have to help me, you know. I only asked Theodore to..."

"Of course I'm going to help. You think Theodore's the only man here capable of actually doing something?" Draco looked at her angrily but Astoria only raised her eyebrows. She couldn't say she was surprised. Draco seemed to always be jealous of Theodore. But in some way Astoria didn't even want to understand it felt good to know that Draco cared. She felt heart leap a little.

"I'm gone for one second and the two of you are at each other's throats? If this is what this is going to be like all the time you might as well count me out," Theodore said but the smile on his face undermined everything he said. Draco sneered at him which wasn't a surprise. It also earned a huff from Astoria. Theodore levitated that particular pile of books on to the table and for a moment the three of them stared at the scene in front of them. The table was rectangular and surrounded by seats on three sides. On the ends there were armchairs and beside the long side a comfortable couch. Theodore sat on the other armchair and levitated the rest of the books on to the remaining chair, thus leaving Astoria and Draco to sit on the couch. Draco frowned a little but didn't seem to think much of it.

In fact Draco thought much of it. He was very annoyed that Theodore seemed to be plotting something but he went along with it. He sat on the couch, at the end that was closest to Theodore and picked up a book. He nearly dropped it when he felt a weight settle on the couch close to him. Astoria sat close enough for their legs to nearly brush against each other. For a moment Draco stared at the spot where she was closest to him and thought of moving his leg. But it seemed his entire brain had stopped listening to him. He tore his eyes away from the place quickly but not quickly enough. He could see Astoria staring at the very same space with a small blush on her cheeks. _She's cute. _Draco dropped the book to his lap from higher than he had planned and it slammed painfully against his legs. _Cute? CUTE? Get a grip, Malfoy_, he told himself.

Yet sitting next to Astoria proved to be even more difficult than he had thought. He could smell the faint scent of raspberry floating in the air. He remembered the smell from before. It was the same one that he'd found so intoxicating right before the battle of Hogwarts. When he'd been so lost in the fact that she was there, standing so close to him. Then she'd kissed him and then she had been gone. It was the only part of the battle of Hogwarts that Draco enjoyed remembering. The other parts were all nightmares.

Without realising he found himself looking at Astoria and soon enough she was looking at him. Draco knew that Theodore was by now too lost in the books to have any idea of what happened around him but none of that mattered.

Staring in to Astoria's eyes Draco knew she understood. Just what there was to understand he couldn't say. She understood everything. She always had. He could somehow see that she remembered all the same things as he did. Hesitantly he raised his hand to brush the back of his fingers against her cheek. For a moment which couldn't have lasted even a second but felt like a million years to him, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against his touch. The rush of blood beating through his brain was like thunder.

"So what did you – OH!" Theodore was smiling like a madman, "Would you like me to leave?" His smile faded a little bit when both Astoria and Draco glared at him in a way that probably could have killed people.

"No," Astoria muttered under her breath, knowing that only Draco could hear her, "But if you don't shut up I might just find a potion and poison you."

_**Thank you so much for reading! Tell me what you thought of it.**_


	11. Conversations

_**AN: **_It has been forever hasn't it? Nearly six months. I know there's really no proper excuse to not updating in such a long time but I'll give you a reason anyway. I've been studying for arguably some of the most important exams of my life and writing this simply was a distraction I couldn't allow. Apologies for that. However, for those of you who doubt it, I do fully intend to finish this story (however long that may take). I'm not going to leave it halfway. I also really really want to thank everyone who's reviewed and followed/added this story to their favourites. You have no idea how great it makes me feel. But now, the actual chapter.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter and I think I never shall.

* * *

Astoria was exhausted. Her internship at St. Mungo's was tiring and spending countless hours after work trying to uncover some secret from the books from her mother's vault was enough to drive her to the brink of a breakdown. Astoria had never been too spoiled but seeing some of the patients at the hospital had revealed an entirely new perspective for her. Some of the beds in that hospital were still occupied by patients who'd suffered in the hands of Death Eaters. Some of the patients' lives had been destroyed by people who had been family friends in her childhood. She had never before had the opportunity nor the need to think about these things but suddenly they were all too close to her. Every day.

Astoria was lost in her thoughts, only paying attention every once in a while to the healers she was bringing supplies to. The fourth floor of St. Mungo's, reserved for patients who had been hurt by spells either intentionally or by accident, was always somewhat chaotic. There were healers and healers in training running all about the place delivering patients and other healers whatever it was that they needed. It was perhaps because of that that Astoria at first failed to hear her name being called.

"HEY," someone said rather loudly, pulling Astoria out of her thoughts. For a split second Astoria was rather terrified that one of her superiors had noticed how unfocused she was being. But in a way, the truth of the situation was worse.

"Hi," Ginny Weasley repeated from the other side of the corridor. Astoria flashed a smile and walked over to her.

"Hi."

"Greengrass, right? What are you doing here?" asked Ginny. The question felt a little offensive at first but Astoria looked at Ginny's face and saw that the question was made out of simple interest.

"I work here."

"Really?" Ginny seemed surprised, "As a healer?" Astoria looked around the half full corridor and nodded.

"Yeah. But I'm not an actual healer yet. That takes a lot of training." Ginny nodded at this.

"It's a big responsibility, being in charge of saving lives," she said. Astoria could only nod. The situation was already starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

"What about you? What are you doing here?" Curiosity got the best of Astoria and she could see Ginny looking at her, probably trying to decide if Astoria, a Slytherin girl not much younger than Ginny herself, was trustworthy.

"My brother was hurt in some auror mission. Nothing serious, but I thought I'd come and check on him," Ginny finally said.

"I'm sorry. I hope he's okay," Astoria said. Ginny looked a little shocked by this but nodded anyway.

Astoria was about to say her goodbyes when Ginny suddenly looked at her with a devastatingly sharp look in her eyes and asked, quite boldly,

"What happened to you?" Astoria was baffled. What had happened to her?

"What do you mean?" Ginny shrugged before answering,

"When we were younger you were a bit of a nobody. I'd heard nothing else about you except your name and that apparently most of the Slytherin population didn't like you. Then by the beginning of our sixth year you were sitting next to Malfoy," Ginny spat the name out like venom, "and Nott and that Travers girl in the Great Hall and you were dating an Avery." Astoria opened and closed her mouth like some kind of a fish. This was all true of course, but Astoria had never really considered what it all looked like in the eyes of an outsider.

"We don't always get to decide where life takes us," Astoria finally said. She then looked in to Ginny's eyes, smirked and added, "Avery was a mistake though, I'll readily admit that one."

Ginny seemed to find this a little amusing as well.

"I heard you broke up. There were a lot of rumours."

"Oh I do hope they made clear that I was the one who left him," Astoria said although her tone made it clear that she was only joking. Ginny didn't smile.

"They did make that quite clear, actually. People said it was quite the scene. They said you broke up with him because he supported all that blood purity nonsense," said Ginny. Astoria took a deep breath and shrugged. She didn't feel like going back to the moment. It only made her think of Emma and how betrayed she'd felt.

"Makes me wonder what made you hang out with Malfoy if you didn't support their cause," Ginny said. Astoria realised, too late, that this was where the conversation had been going all along. She could feel herself getting angry.

"I don't know, but if you're asking me if I believe in all that blood purity nonsense then the answer is no."

Although her face remained neutral Astoria could tell that Ginny was pleased with this answer.

"I should go. Have a wonderful - "

"Ginny! Ron was just – oh, " a dark haired boy with glasses and a scar on his forehead said, "Hello."

"Harry, this is Astoria Greengrass," Ginny said, gesturing at Astoria.

"Hello," Astoria said, then cleared her throat, "As I was saying, I should really go now. Have a nice day and I hope your brother gets better." Ginny and Harry both nodded at her as she left.

"Was I supposed to know who that was?" Harry asked, genuinely confused. Ginny only flashed him a smile and kissed him on the cheek before saying,

"No but I have a feeling that you should remember her."

* * *

Work was finally over for the day but Astoria was still not free to go home. Although she regretted it now, she had agreed to go and have tea with Grace. They met at a tea shop located in the further end of Diagon Alley. New businesses were finally being opened up after the war and the tea shop in question was one of them. Grace wore an expensive looking outfit and a huge smile on her face. Astoria on the other hand was dressed far more modestly. She didn't want attention drawn to herself and due to her tiredness she was almost incapable of smiling.

"You look horrible," Grace said frankly when she hugged Astoria. Astoria only sighed as an answer.

"So how've you been? Busy, by the looks of it," Grace said. Astoria nodded, thankful for the fact that she knew Grace would talk enough for the both of them. Inside the tea shop Grace's smile widened even more.

"What's going on?" Astoria asked, her curiosity finally getting the best of her. Grace looked out the window with an almost dreamy look on her face. It gave Astoria a pretty clear idea of what had happened.

"So what's his name?" Astoria asked. Grace made a show of acting surprised.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about," she said but her laughter made it impossible to believe her and Astoria laughed with her.

"He works at the Ministry. At the department of magical accidents and catastrophes, to be exact."

"That's impressive," Astoria noted.

"He's only a few years older than I am, so he's not anyone important there but I see him from time to time at the ministry. He's very nice," Grace explained. She still had a very dreamy look in her eyes. Astoria thought, with dread, that perhaps she herself had once looked as dreamy when thinking about John or Malfoy. She felt happy for Grace, of course, but she had to admit that looking so lost in her thoughts, Grace looked a little childish.

"Have you talked to him?" Astoria asked. It was nice, she thought, to have something else to talk about besides dying people and potions that might have killed her mother.

"Yes," Grace nodded, "We're going to have tea on Friday." Astoria smiled at this.

"That's very nice," she said. But there was something in Grace's expression now, something had made her suddenly uncomfortable. Astoria straightened her back. That sort of look usually meant trouble. Was the man a former Death Eater? Was he someone Astoria knew?

"He – uh – he was in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts," Grace said while looking out the window. Something in Astoria's stomach turned around. Why had Grace been so shy to tell her that?

"Do you...You don't think I have a problem with that, do you?" Astoria asked incredulously. Finally Grace looked in to Astoria's eyes and Astoria saw the answer in them, plain and clear.

"Listen, Grace," Astoria said, "you could date a Gryffindor and that wouldn't make a difference to me. I don't care what house your potential boyfriend was in, not like that at least. Besides, Ravenclaw is a very respectable house. They're smart and often very talented." Even Astoria herself was surprised to hear herself say that. She was even more surprised when she realised how true it was. It didn't really matter to her who Grace dated as long as that someone made her happy.

Grace offered her a wide smile that gave Astoria hope that Grace had believed her. But the conversation still left an uneasy feeling to her. Ginny Weasley had seemed to think that because of who she spent time with, blood purity had become a thing that Astoria cared about. Was this what Grace thought as well? Was it what everyone thought? It had always been somewhat obvious to Astoria that she was considered to be the 'nice one' of her family, but it was possible that that had now changed and Astoria found that the thought of it made her feel sick.

"You have to come over to my house after you're done having tea with him," Astoria said, hoping that despite her thoughts she sounded happy and positive, "I want to hear everything that happens." Grace agreed to this with a laugh and they moved on to different subjects, such as their work.

* * *

When Astoria arrived to the Greengrass estate, that is to say home, she was exhausted. It was not as bad as it had been when she'd first started actually working at St. Mungo's instead of volunteering but the days still sometimes took every ounce of strength Astoria had out of her. Astoria didn't even bother to change her clothes, she merely took of her coat and used her wand to move it to the direction of the wardrobe. The question of whether or not it made it there was insignificant. Once on her bed, Astoria fell asleep in a few minutes but her sleep was bothered by the conversation she'd had with Ginny and later with Grace.

Memories of the months before the Battle of Hogwarts plagued her dreams and she even dreamed of the night she'd spent with her sister and her friends at the cottage. In her dreams she wore the same expression of contempt that she'd seen on her sister's face many times before when they'd passed Gryffindor or Hufflepuff students of Daphne's age. It was horrible. That was not the person she wanted to be. But even through all of this, the images of scarred and suffering patients from St. Mungo's sometimes made it through in to her dreams. All she could see were nightmares.

Through the mist of her dreams Astoria heard Daphne screaming her name. She woke up and ran from her room to the hallway, terrified that her sister was in danger.

"ASTORIA!" her sister's shrill voice made her heart jump to her chest. Heading towards the front door Astoria decided which spell to use on whoever was trying to harm her sister. She reached the hallway, pointed her wand and almost spoke the words of a curse. But there was no intruder at the door. It was just Daphne and she looked unharmed.

"What is it?" Astoria asked. Putting her wand in to the pocket of the bathrobe Daphne had bought her for Christmas, Astoria hugged her sister.

"I have some news," Daphne said in an oddly monotone voice. Astoria frowned and tilted her head a little in confusion. Daphne seemed confused as well. She was staring at Astoria as if she was only now seeing her for the first time.

"Wh-?"

"I'm sorry," Daphne said, "I scared you, didn't I?" Astoria didn't reply.

"Is something wrong Tori? You look really shaken. Do you need to sit down?" Now Daphne looked genuinely worried. Astoria only shook her head again.

"Alright then," Daphne said even though it was obvious she wasn't willing to let that subject go, "As I said, I have some news."

With those words she lifted up her hand to show Astoria a sparkling ring on her finger. For a moment Astoria just stared at it, uncomprehending. Then a huge smile broke on to her face and she laughed.

"Montague finally did it, eh?" Daphne nodded in excitement and let out a giggle that Astoria thought she'd last heard when they were children. Astoria had to admit that even though she didn't like Graham Montague, he had succeeded in the only thing that should matter. He had made Astoria's sister happy.

"When's the wedding?" Astoria asked.

"In February. I wanted a winter wedding, even though Graham said he'd rather get married in the summer. But then I told him that I'd literally dreamed of a winter wedding since I was a child and he said it was fine as long as I was happy. Isn't that the most romantic thing you've ever heard?" Daphne had a dreamy look on her face and Astoria didn't have the heart to tell her that a winter wedding was a disaster in the making.

"Well it's pretty close," she said instead, "Have you told father yet?" The word 'father' rolled off of her tongue easily and Astoria chastised herself for it. These last weeks in St. Mungo's had taught her new respect for her father and she rather hoped to get in the habit of calling her father something less formal, like 'dad'.

"No. I doubt he'll be as excited but at least we'll have something to celebrate," Daphne sighed. She bit her lip and looked at Astoria knowingly as though there was another surprise she still hadn't told Astoria. But then Daphne shook her head, obviously letting the thought go.

"Oh this is going to be so great!" Daphne exclaimed instead, "We'll go buy dresses and you can help me design everything! And the guests! Graham and I counted that there's going to be almost a hundred of them." Astoria did her best to hide the feeling of pure terror coursing through her. Dresses? Designs? A hundred guests?

"Graham has a big family," Daphne explained as if she was able to read her sister's thoughts. Astoria nodded as a sign of understanding. Her family wasn't that big. It was just her, Daphne and their father. Their grandparents, mother and their father's brother had all died either before they were born or when they were very young. For a moment Astoria thought to herself whether or not she ought to count Grace and Theodore as a part of her family. It was a strange thought to have.

"But first," Daphne said and placed her hands on her hips, "I do believe I have an engagement party to plan." Astoria smiled as Daphne walked past her with a look of utter determination on her face. The click of her heels echoed in the hall for a total of 3 seconds.

"Uh you're being so slow, Tori! Get a move on it! Put on some other clothes and meet me in scenery room." The scenery room was a name Astoria and Daphne had given to one specific room in the house that had huge windows that looked in to the garden and had a collection of paintings on the walls. Although Astoria didn't know it, the scenery room was where Draco Malfoy and Michael Greengrass had had tea some months before.

"But I - " Astoria really did not want to plan an engagement party.

"Don't you start! I never ask anything of you so when I do, you could at least try. Also, I just got engaged so you have to do what I say," Daphne called from another room where, by the sounds of it, she was tearing apart cupboards. Astoria was fairly sure that there was no rule that dictated that a she had to do whatever Daphne said just because Daphne had got engaged but with a huff Astoria did as she was told.

Astoria sat on the couch of the scenery room for a total of two hours listening to Daphne talk about what kind of an engagement party she wanted to have. During the two hours Astoria was given the chance to speak three times. The fourth time arrived when Daphne suddenly looked Astoria straight in the eye and asked,

"Should I invite the Malfoys?" Astoria hid whatever reaction her face had to the words and shrugged.

"It's your wedding and your engagement party. You can invite anyone you want." Daphne seemed to think about this for a moment.

"What about Theodore?" she then asked, "I don't think Graham likes him, you know, because we dated before I met Graham but then again, you're good friends with him and..." Daphne's sentence was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing and their father's unmistakable footsteps echoing in the house, moving closer to the scenery room.

"Oh hello," Michael Greengrass said when he found both of his daughters in the room. Daphne immediately ran to hug her father whereas Astoria remained on the couch.

"What's this all about?" Michael asked his daughters. Astoria closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep and drawled,

"Daphne has some news for you," in the most Daphne-like voice she could muster. She supposed that Daphne might have shot her a glare but since Astoria's eyes were closed she couldn't be sure.

"Yes! Dad. Graham and I have gotten engaged," Daphne announced with a grand voice that made Astoria smile. She opened her eyes just enough to see the poorly masked shock on her father's face.

"Well, that's wonderful," Michael finally said even though the words seemed very difficult to get out, "We should celebrate." Daphne made an oddly high sound and said something about getting the firewhisky. Apparently forgetting that she was a witch, Daphne ran out of the room. Once she was out, Michael let out a huge sigh.

"Don't tell me you've got engaged as well," he said and sat down to a chair. Astoria opened her eyes and straightened her back.

"No. Unfortunately no one's proposed to me yet." Michael nodded as if this was the best piece of news he'd heard in a long time.

"But don't worry, dad. I'll find someone," Astoria added. It was supposed to be a joke but her father gave a rather serious look that had something close to fear mixed in it.

"Yes, and I guess that whoever you choose to marry won't be as harmless as Graham Montague." The fact that this was clearly meant to hint at her relationship with Draco made Astoria feel a little conflicted. It was odd. Like Ginny had said, she'd been no one important a few years ago, not even to her own family. But now even her father seemed to think that the one to look out for was Astoria and not her sister.

Daphne soon returned with the firewhisky. She poured everyone a small glass of it and they drank it in silence. Astoria sipped at hers a little less enthusiastically than her father who threw it all down his throat with one swallow.

**_Poor Astoria, everyone else is having romance and she's not. Well, that'll be fixed soon enough. _**

**_Thank you so much for reading (as usual). Tell me what you thought about it!_**


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